Irritable bowel syndrome: Epidemiology, natural history, health care seeking and emerging risk factors

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects approximately 10% of the general population in western countries and 7.5% of the general population in Asia, but this varies according to different symptom criteria definitions. IBS annual incidence is estimated at two cases per 1000 in the population. In IBS frequent transition of clinical symptoms and overlap with other functional GI disorders are typical. Surgical interventions are more frequent compared with healthy subjects. Only half of patients suffering from IBS, will consult a physician for their symptoms. Age, frequency and duration of pain, and psychological conditions have been identified as significant predictors for health care seeking. In IBS, gastrointestinal sensory and motor dysfunction, certain psychological traits, and environmental factors likely contribute to the clinical manifestations. Several genetic markers have been associated with IBS, although they have been found to explain only a limited amount of the phenotypic variance.