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Published on: August 22, 2012
[An epidemiologic study of functional bowel disorders in adolescents in China]
Hui-Qing Zhou1, Ding-Guo Li, Yan-Yan Song
1Department of Gastroenterology, Xinhua Hospital, Medical College of Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Objective:
To explore the most common bowel frequency and the prevalence rates of functional bowel disorders among adolescents in China.
Methods:
A questionnaire survey was conducted among 51,956 students from high and primary schools in 6 Chinese cities distributed in the whole China collected by stratified, randomized, cluster sampling to study the epidemiology of functional bowel disorders.
Results:
(1) 88.05% +/- 0.28% of the students had bowel frequency between 1 - 2 times/day and 1 time/two days. Girl students were found to have a lower bowel frequency than boy students (P < 0.01). (2) The prevalence rates of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, and chronic diarrhea were 20.19% (10 490), 25.92% (13 467), and 8.77% (4557) respectively.
Conclusion:
(1) The normal bowel frequency among adolescents in China may be defined as bowel movements between 1 - 2 times per day and 1 time per two days. (2) Irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea are common disorders among the adolescents in China.
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