Investigation of functional gastrointestinal disorders and their related factors in rural area / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in the rural population. Methods A questionnaire survey was carried out in six villages of Lankao county in Henan Province, using the Rome III criteria, to assess the prevalence of FGIDs, and to analyze the FGID-related risk factors, using self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) to assess their risk factors. Results A total of 3032 residents (male 1531, female 1501) were investigated with mean age of 42.5±16.8 years. Among the residents surveyed, 282(9.30%) were diagnosed with FGIDs. The prevalence of the complaints showed that functional heartburn (1.99%), functional dyspepsia (1.85%), non-specific functional gastrointestinal disorders (1.76%) and irritable bowel syndrome (1.58%) ranked the highest in above order. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of FGIDs between female (10.26%) and male (8.36%, P>0.05). The prevalence rate of FGID increased with the increase of age, and reached the peak in the people with age over 60 years (18.58%, P<0.001). Statistical analysis indicated that smoking might be associated with FGIDs, accounting 12.76% in smoking people and 8.79% in non-smoking people (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that FGIDs might involve the following risk factors, including advanced age, irregular eating habit, with a preference of eating raw or cold foods, cold drinking, anxiety and depression (P<0.05). Conclusions The prevalence rate of FGIDs in these areas is lower than that reported elsewhere. Age and unhealthy life style might be the risk factors of FGIDs. The psychologic disorders such as anxiety and depression were also associated with people suffering from FGIDs.