Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Migraine and Co-Existing IBS- Migraine in Medical Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and migraine frequently co-exist. Stress is a major contributing factor for both. Our medical students are subjected to stress related to the implicit responsibility of courses. But the prevalence of IBS, migraine and co-existing migraine in medical students is not known. AIM: To estimate the prevalence of migraine, IBS and co-existing IBS and migraine among medical students. A Cross-Sectional Survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Student's t-test and chi-square test were used to compare the distributions of continuous data and categorical data respectively with significance level set at 0.05 or less. RESULTS: Among the 293 students (mean age 21.09 ± 2.24 years) volunteered in the study (Males= 177), 14 (4.8%, 11 males, 3 females, p = 0.175) met the criteria for IBS with comparable prevalence among preclinical and clinical (4.2% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.787) students from both private and government institutions (2.1% vs. 7.2%, p = 0.055). IBS-D was the most prevalent subtype (n = 8, M = 6) and abdominal pain relieved by defecation (n = 11), was the most prevalent symptom. Fifty percent (n = 7) of IBS patients considered their bowel habit as normal. Among the 221 (75.4%) students with headache, only 51 (17.4%, 20 males and 31 females, p = 0.001) were diagnosed of migraine, with comparable prevalence among preclinical and clinical students (16.2% vs. 18.5%, p = 0.645). Only 17 (33%) subjects with migraine had accompanying aura. Common triggers were stress (n = 43), lack of sleep (n = 42), and daily life events. Twelve (23.5%) subjects with migraine had migraine-associated frequent disability. Only two female students with IBS-D (14.3%) had concomitant IBS and migraine. CONCLUSION: IBS and concomitant migraine - IBS prevalence was found to be low in our medical students, but migraine prevalence corresponds to other countries as well as in medical students.