STUDY OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS) AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS OF TAIF UNIVERSITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN MEDICAL VERSUS NON-MEDICAL STUDENTS

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a repeated, expensive, and disabling functional digestive disorder. Stress can play a role in its occurrence hence, nowadays many researches are conducted on the college students especially the medical as a vulnerable group to stress that may predispose to IBS.

Aim of the work To determine the IBS in medical students in Tiaf University, KSA, in comparison to non-medical students in female campus.

Method: A transversal study was conducted among 223 female students from Faculty of Medicine, Arts, Admin and Financial sciences, Computer and Information technology and Islamic law. Participants were selected randomly during October 2014. A questionnaire based on Rome III Criteria was used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed and represented in tables and graphs.

Results: Among the 223 students, the IBS was (26.9%) according to the Rome III criteria. IBS was more incident in medical students (30.3%) than non-medical (24.2%), but the difference was statistically non-significant. The percentage of IBS-constipation subtype was (38.3%), IBS-diarrhea subtype (33.3%) and IBS-mixed subtype (28.4%).

Conclusion: High IBS incidence in female students of Taif University particularly among medical students.

Recommendation: stress management courses and student support services are needed to allow the University students to deal with different stressors and pressure during the year university` studies.