Prevalence, overlap, and risk factors for Rome IV functional gastrointestinal disorders among college students in northern India

Background/Purpose There is scarcity of data on prevalence, overlap, and risk factors for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) by Rome IV criteria. We evaluated these factors among medical, nursing, and humanities students. Methods Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire (for all FGIDs), Rome III questionnaire (for irritable bowel syndrome [IBS], functional diarrhea [FDr], and functional constipation [FC]), and questionnaires assessing demography, physical activity, anxiety, and depression were used. Results A total of 1309 college students were included (medical 425, nursing 390, humanities 494; mean age 20.5 +/- 2.1 years; 36.5% males). Prevalence of Rome IV FGIDs was 26.9% (n = 352), significantly higher among females compared with males (32.3% vs. 17.6%; p < 0.001) and significantly higher among medical (34.4%) and nursing students (29.2%) compared with humanities students (18.6%) (p < 0.05). Most common FGIDs were functional dyspepsia (FD) (15.2%), IBS (6.2%), reflux hypersensitivity (3.5%), FDr (2.9%), FC (2.1%), and unspecified functional bowel disorder (2.1%). FGID overlap was present in 9.3%, most common being FD-IBS overlap (4.4%). With Rome III criteria, prevalence of IBS was higher (9.5%), while that of FDr (0.92%) and of FC (1.3%) were lower. On multivariate analysis, independent predictors for FGIDs were female gender, medical student, non-vegetarian diet, junk food, tea/coffee, poor physical activity, anxiety, and insomnia. Conclusion Rome IV FGIDs were present among one-fourth of college students with preponderance among females and medical students. FD, IBS, and reflux hypersensitivity were the most common FGIDs. Rome IV criteria led to a reduction in IBS prevalence and increase in FDr and FC prevalence. Dietary factors, physical activity, anxiety, and insomnia affected FGID prevalence.

Automated summary

The study revealed a high prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders among college students, with females and medical students at higher risk. Common disorders included functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and reflux hypersensitivity. Factors such as junk food consumption, anxiety, and insomnia were found to be associated with the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders.