Clinical Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 1, 2004; 10(7): 1059-1064
Published online Apr 1, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i7.1059
Table 1 The basic characteristics of IBS consulters
CharacteristicsIBS sample (n = 662)
Age (yr, %)44.78 ± 13.71
< 201.5
20-299.5
30-3930.4
40-4925.8
50-5917
60-6910.5
70-795
> 800.3
Gender (n, %)
Male312 (47.1)
Female350 (52.9)
Marital status (n, %)
Never married51 (7.7)
Married585 (88.4)
Widow19 (2.8)
Divorced or separated7 (1.1)
Education level (n, %)
Illiterate87 (13.1)
Primary school129 (19.5)
Junior middle school184 (27.7)
Senior middle school155 (23.5)
College or graduated107 (16.2)
Profession (n, %)
Peasants211 (31.8)
Workers75 (11.3)
Cadres62 (9.4)
Intellectuals58 (8.7)
Merchants105 (15.9)
Soldiers57 (8.6)
Student20 (3.0)
Retired and jobless74 (11.3)
Table 2 Symptoms characteristics of IBS by gender
Symptoms (%)Male (n = 305)Female (n = 311)P
IBS compatible symptoms
Abdominal pain ≥ 1 hour/day53.761.10.039
Abdominal pain ≥ 2 days/week67.268.20.434
Altered stool form80.078.10.312
Altered stool passage66.868.80.325
Abdominal distension60.765.60.118
Passage of mucus51.148.20.260
Extra-colonic symptoms
Dyspeptic symptoms63.165.30.319
Poor appetite33.643.00.011
Heartburn28.421.30.066
Headache24.133.60.024
Back pain24.427.50.426
Difficulty in urination15.66.20.000
Anxiety51.057.10.200
Depression40.247.70.114
Fatigue72.073.70.897
Table 3 Symptoms in the IBS subgroups
Symptoms (%, n)IBS-C (n = 108)IBS-D (n = 258)IBS-A (n = 174)
Genderb
Male38 (35.8)14775 (43.1)
Female69 (64.2)11199 (56.9)
Age (yr)44.2 ± 13.145.8 ± 13.744.6 ± 14.2
Abdominal pain51 (47.2)152 (58.9)113 (64.9)
frequency ≥ 2 d/wk
Abdominal pain62 (57.4)171 (66.3)132 (75.9)
Duration ≥ 1 h/da
Abnormal stool form84 (77.8)218 (84.5)133 (76.4)
Abnormal stool passage75 (69.4)179 (69.4)121 (69.5)
Abdominal distension65 (60.2)157 (60.9)118 (67.8)
Passage stool mucusa34 (31.5)150 (58.1)87 (50.0)
Dyspeptic symptomsb181 (70.2)108 (62.0)
Heartburn25 (23.1)59 (22.9)45 (25.9)
Difficulty in urination16 (14.8)23 (8.9)15 (8.6)
Depression50 (46.3)107 (41.5)77 (44.3)
Fatigue68 (62.9)202 (78.3)125 (71.8)
Anxietyb51 (47.2)160 (62.0)88 (50.6)
Table 4 The SF-36 scales score in IBS versus general population (Normative) by gender
Scale(mean ± SD)Male
Female
IBS sample
IBSNormPIBSNormP
PF83.6 (20.1)84.4 (18.6)0.47878.3 (19.2)79.9 (20.7)0.17981.1 (19.8)
RP60.9 (51.8)82.4 (32.6)0.00050.0 (51.3)79.9 (34.5)0.00055.7 (51.7)
BP53.5 (18.6)83.0 (19.0)0.00047.6 (20.4)79.9 (21.8)0.00050.9 (19.8)
GH43.4 (17.3)58.0 (19.9)0.00038.2 (19.7)55.2 (20.4)0.00041.0 (18.6)
VT40.9 (19.8)53.3 (20.9)0.00034.4 (18.5)50.1 (20.7)0.00037.9 (19.5)
SF67.2 (18.2)83.1 (17.5)0.00062.9 (18.7)82.9 (18.1)0.00065.3 (18.6)
RE65.5 (56.1)84.3 (32.3)0.00053.2 (43.8)84.5 (32.5)0.00059.7 (50.9)
MH50.4 (20.6)60.3 (23.0)0.00044.0 (23.9)59.1 (22.4)0.00047.4 (22.4)
Table 5 The SF-36 scales score in IBS versus general population (Normative) by age
Scale(mean ± SD)< 44 yr
45-64 yr
≥ 65 yr
IBSNormPIBSNormPIBSNormP
PF85.5 (18.3)86.0 (18.0)0.59981.2 (19.5)82.0 (17.4)0.35967.6 (20.7)68.5 (24.5)0.747
RP64.1 (57.7)85.3 (29.0)0.00055.9 (51.8)80.4 (34.3)0.00030.5 (37.4)68.3 (42.8)0.000
BP53.4 (19.7)85.0 (17.8)0.00051.1 (19.7)78.4 (21.3)0.00046.0 (16.3)75.3 (23.6)0.000
GH44.5 (18.0)60.0 (19.8)0.00041.1 (18.6)54.0 (19.4)0.00034.6 (14.9)50.3 (20.9)0.000
VT40.6 (19.5)53.3 (20.3)0.00037.9 (19.3)51.2 (21.1)0.00025.8 (16.2)48.4 (22.1)0.000
SF68.0 (18.1)84.2 (16.9)0.00065.4 (18.5)82.8 (17.6)0.00059.8 (18.0)79.3 (20.9)0.000
RE61.7 (40.8)85.3 (30.5)0.00059.7 (51.0)85.1 (32.2)0.00055.0 (45.7)79.5 (38.8)0.059
MH49.2 (18.0)57.9 (21.4)0.00047.5 (22.4)61.3 (23.5)0.00047.8 (18.2)62.4 (25.1)0.000
Table 6 SF-36 scale scores (mean ± SD) among different IBS subgroups
SF-36IBS-CIBS-DIBS-AGeneral populationP
PF77.4 (22.1)82.2 (17.6)79.7 (20.7)82.2 (19.8)0.104
RP47.1 (39.2)61.3 (41.6)50.9 (43.4)81.2 (33.6)0.043
BP50.7 (20.9)52.3 (19.8)47.2 (19.8)81.5 (20.5)0.048
GH36.9 (17.6)41.7 (19.6)40.5 (17.9)56.7 (20.2)0.110
VT33.8 (19.0)37.8 (19.3)39.0 (20.0)52.0 (20.9)0.127
SF63.9 (20.5)66.9 (17.5)62.0 (18.8)83.0 (17.8)0.032
RE46.6 (44.4)65.3 (38.7)55.6 (43.1)84.4 (32.4)0.080
MH42.6 (30.9)48.7 (18.0)47.9 (18.7)59.7 (22.7 )0.061