Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Obese People

Increased incidence of obesity is a worrying issue; some epidemiological studies highlight the relationship between obesity and all digestive functional disorders.

The Aim: object of our work is to study the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in population suffering from obesity.

Materials and Methods: this is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. A clinical questionnaire on functional digestive disorders (based on the Rome IV criteria) was filled in, interesting all obese people with a BMI> 30 Kg / m² admitted for the management of their obesity.

Results: 94 patients were included, with a mean age of 41.2 years. 85.1% of patients had obesity at least in one member of their family, and 25.5% of these obese people had undergone a cholecystectomy. 38.3% of the patients had comorbidity. The average BMI of the patients was 40.9 kg / m², 74.4% had a BMI> 35 kg / m². IBS was present in 72 patients; it was constipation predominant in 22.2% of cases. However, It was unclassifiable in 47.2%.

Conclusion: The prevalence of IBS is found in high percentage in our studied population, thus, IBS should be diagnosed and managed in obese person. Further studies are needed to establish the relationship between these diseases.

Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, prevalence.