Prevalence of functional GI disorder in the adult population of Arafat town, Karachi

ABSTRACT

To find out the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in the adult population of a low socioeconomic community in Pakistani population. A sample of 500 adult individuals was selected through a simple random sampling technique using simple random table. The Study conducted in 2004 based on a questionnaire comprising of 38 close ended questions as per ROME II criteria. The diagnosis established through the same criterion after analyzing the data on SPSS 10.0. The Study on 500 individuals revealed that a major proportion of the studied population 80.2% [401/500] were having one or more than one functional gastrointestinal disorders ranging from mild to server conditions, while only 19.8% [99/500] of them were free from any disorder. Out of these diseased individuals, the majority 77.8% [312/401] suffering from Multiple Gastrointestinal Symptoms, while 22.2% [89/401] were with that of Single Gastrointestinal Symptoms. Functional gastrointestinal disorders are prevalent in our community. These disorders found in individuals are of both Single and Multiple in nature. Although these are not fatal but may cause discomfort ranging from inconvenience to deep personal distress which may lead to great decline in their quality of life