Background and Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome is a common gastrointestinal disease which is characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and its related factors in the general population in Sanandaj in 2013-2014.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sanandaj for a period of 12 months, from the summer of 2013 to the summer of 2014. Considering the design effect, a population sample of 430 were selected via random cluster sampling method. ROME III criteria were used for diagnosis of IBS. Logistic regression was used to accomplish the qualitative objectives and multivariate analysis for categorical variables. We used STATA11 software for statistical analysis.

Results: We found a prevalence rate of 10.63% for irritable bowel syndrome in the general population in Sanandaj. Concerning gender distribution, the prevalence rates were 11.5% and 9.96% for males and females respectively, which had no statistically significant difference (OR=1.184, 95% CI=0.574 – 2.439). Although the disease was more prevalent in the patients between 30-40 years of age compared to other age groups, this difference was not statistically significant (OR=0.679, 0.95 CI=0.189, 2.441).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the prevalence rate of IBS was higher in Sanandaj city in comparison to other parts of Iran, which can be related to several factors such as diet and lifestyle. Because of the high prevalence of IBS in Sanandaj, we recommend further studies for identification of the causes of this disorder and its exacerbating factors in this city.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome, Prevalence rate, Population-based study, Iran.

Received: Jul 24, 2016      Accepted: Nov 7, 2016