Abstract:
Background: Global prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome is high among medical
students and health care professionals with significant morbidity. Similarly, the prevalence
of celiac disease in irritable bowel syndrome is higher than the general population. These
conditions impair quality of life and contribute to social-economic burden. In Tanzania,
little is known about irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease among medical students
and health care professionals.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease in
irritable bowel syndrome and their manifestations among MUHAS staff and students.
Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted to MUHAS and Mloganzila
Academic Medical Center (MAMC) staff and students who fulfilled the online shared
Rome IV criteria of irritable bowel syndrome from August to November 2018. A
structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data, anthropometric
measurements and clinical manifestations. Blood samples for full blood picture, liver
enzymes and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate were taken. Celiac disease was tested using
anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody test. Qualitative and quantitative data were
summarized using frequency distribution tables. Chi-square and fishers exact test were
used to study comparison between groups. Logistic regression was used to study
associations. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and a P value of ≤0.05 was
considered significant.
Results: Out of 1,321 participants, 192 (14.5%) had irritable bowel syndrome in which 77
(40.1%) were males and 115 (59.9%) were females. Among the 192 participants with
irritable bowel syndrome, 3 (1.6%) were positive for celiac disease, 2 (66.7%) were
females and 1 (33.3%) was a male. Of the 3 patients with CD, 2 had elevated ALAT and 1
had anaemia. Age (AOR 2.53, 95% C.I 1.57-4.09), sex (AOR 1.67, 95% C.I 1.16-2.41),
marital status (AOR 4.95 C.I 2.07-11.82), alcohol intake (AOR 2.47, 95% C.I 1.16-5.23),
year of study (AOR 8.49, 95% C.I 5.71-12.64) and sleep duration (AOR 2.24, 95% C.I
1.23-4.06) were found to be independently associated with IBS.
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Conclusion: Prevalence of IBS and its associated factors in our study population was
similar to findings from studies done elsewhere. Also, our study revealed a low prevalence
of celiac disease among IBS participants.
