Perceived risk as a barrier to appropriate diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome

Table 1 Characteristics of respondents by risk perception of irritable bowel syndrome n (%)

	Increased risk perception (colon cancer, nutritional deficit, surgical condition, or shorter life span) (n = 983)
	No (n = 130)	Yes (n = 853)	P value1
Characteristics
Age (yr)
mean ± SD	42.55 ± 13.50	42.74 ± 12.53	0.871
29-39	54 (41.5)	371 (43.5)
40-59	62 (47.7)	377 (44.2)
≥ 60	14 (10.8)	105 (12.3)	0.730
Sex			0.908
Male	67 (51.5)	435 (51.0)
Female	63 (48.5)	418 (49.0)
Marital status			0.403
Married	92 (70.8)	645 (75.6)
Widowed/separated/divorced	1 (0.8)	10 (1.2)
Single	37 (28.4)	198 (23.2)
Educational status (yr)			0.617
≥ 13	45 (34.6)	331 (38.8)
10-12	74 (56.9)	447 (52.4)
≤ 9	11 (8.5)	75 (8.8)
Household income (monthly)			0.712
≥ $4000	21 (16.2)	153 (17.9)
$2000-3999	81 (62.3)	499 (58.5)
< $2000	28 (21.5)	201 (23.6)
Region			0.040
Urban	58 (44.6)	463 (54.3)
Rural	72 (55.4)	390 (45.7)
Hospital visit (/yr)
mean ± SD	4.68 ± 5.94	4.24 ± 4.86	0.343
0-5	96 (73.8)	679 (79.6)
6-10	24 (18.5)	104 (12.2)
≥ 11	10 (7.7)	70 (8.2)	0.141
No. of comorbidity
mean ± SD	0.28 ± 0.57	0.35 ± 0.94	0.403
0	100 (76.9)	679 (79.6)
1	26 (20.0)	107 (12.5)
≥ 2	4 (3.1)	67 (7.9)	0.016
Smoking			0.969
None	77 (59.2)	500 (58.6)
Past	15 (11.5)	105 (12.3)
Current	38 (29.2)	248 (29.1)
Problem drinking2			0.021
No	116 (89.2)	690 (80.9)
Yes	14 (10.8)	163 (19.1)

¹P values calculated from t-test for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables;

²For men, seven or more drinks on an occasion and more than two times per week; for women, five or more drinks on an occasion and more than two times per week. IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome.