Irritable bowel syndrome in China: a review on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disease worldwide. Current guidelines of IBS are mostly based on the western populations and expected to vary in different communities. China has a large population and a vast literature is available on IBS. Due to linguistic variations in the literature, the studies are not widely known and their conclusions thus remain largely obscured to the western medical literature. In this article, we reviewed the published literatures on the investigations of IBS epidemiology, diagnosis, and management in the Chinese population and emphasized the different findings gleaned from the western publications. The detailed literature review will benefit understanding of and promote future study on IBS.

Automated summary

IBS is a common gastrointestinal disease globally, with current guidelines mainly based on western populations. China, with its large population, has a vast literature on IBS, but linguistic variations have caused these studies to be less known in western medical literature. Research on IBS in the Chinese population can benefit understanding and future studies in this area.