Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar

Objective Gibraltar is a unique densely populated multicultural British Overseas Territory for which no population data on disorders of gut–brain interaction have existed.We aimed to provide the first-ever assessment of prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in Gibraltar in...

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Main Authors: Olafur Palsson, Dénes Botond Kovács, Andrea Szekely, Andras Gabor Hubai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-10-01
Series:BMJ Open Gastroenterology
Online Access:https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000979.full
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author Olafur Palsson
Dénes Botond Kovács
Andrea Szekely
Andras Gabor Hubai
author_facet Olafur Palsson
Dénes Botond Kovács
Andrea Szekely
Andras Gabor Hubai
author_sort Olafur Palsson
collection DOAJ
description Objective Gibraltar is a unique densely populated multicultural British Overseas Territory for which no population data on disorders of gut–brain interaction have existed.We aimed to provide the first-ever assessment of prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in Gibraltar in relation to their diagnostic recognition and healthcare burden.Design An internet survey was carried out in Gibraltar in 2019–2020. The study survey included demographic questions, the Rome IV diagnostic questions for functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome, relevant medical history, previous surgeries, medication use, healthcare visit frequency and a quality-of-life questionnaire.Results 888 individuals (3.5% of all Gibraltar adults) completed the survey anonymously. Irritable bowel syndrome prevalence was 5.2% (95% CI 3.7% to 6.6%). Functional dyspepsia prevalence was 9.9% (95% CI 7.9% to 11.9%). The two conditions overlapped substantially. Women had higher mean prevalence than men of both disorders. People meeting criteria for either or both disorders were prone to surgeries, had more frequent healthcare visits, higher medication use and lower quality-of-life scores compared with people without these disorders. Diagnostic recognition by healthcare providers was low, leaving 58.3% of irritable bowel syndrome and 96.9% of functional dyspepsia individuals undiagnosed.Conclusion This first-ever population-based study of Rome IV defined irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in Gibraltar indicates that the prevalence rates of these disorders are similar to the recently reported data for the UK and Spain, but they remain poorly recognised despite substantially affecting the quality of life of individuals who have them in the Gibraltar community.
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spelling doaj-art-43c0c5cf4d524cc39b9ffb007bbdb6dc2025-08-20T02:06:46ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Gastroenterology2054-47742022-10-019110.1136/bmjgast-2022-000979Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of GibraltarOlafur Palsson0Dénes Botond Kovács1Andrea Szekely2Andras Gabor Hubai36 Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Rheumatology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, SwedenDepartment of General Surgery, Gibraltar Health Authority, Gibraltar, GibraltarMental Health Department, Gibraltar Health Authority, Gibraltar, GibraltarEötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Budapest, HungaryObjective Gibraltar is a unique densely populated multicultural British Overseas Territory for which no population data on disorders of gut–brain interaction have existed.We aimed to provide the first-ever assessment of prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in Gibraltar in relation to their diagnostic recognition and healthcare burden.Design An internet survey was carried out in Gibraltar in 2019–2020. The study survey included demographic questions, the Rome IV diagnostic questions for functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome, relevant medical history, previous surgeries, medication use, healthcare visit frequency and a quality-of-life questionnaire.Results 888 individuals (3.5% of all Gibraltar adults) completed the survey anonymously. Irritable bowel syndrome prevalence was 5.2% (95% CI 3.7% to 6.6%). Functional dyspepsia prevalence was 9.9% (95% CI 7.9% to 11.9%). The two conditions overlapped substantially. Women had higher mean prevalence than men of both disorders. People meeting criteria for either or both disorders were prone to surgeries, had more frequent healthcare visits, higher medication use and lower quality-of-life scores compared with people without these disorders. Diagnostic recognition by healthcare providers was low, leaving 58.3% of irritable bowel syndrome and 96.9% of functional dyspepsia individuals undiagnosed.Conclusion This first-ever population-based study of Rome IV defined irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in Gibraltar indicates that the prevalence rates of these disorders are similar to the recently reported data for the UK and Spain, but they remain poorly recognised despite substantially affecting the quality of life of individuals who have them in the Gibraltar community.https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000979.full
spellingShingle Olafur Palsson
Dénes Botond Kovács
Andrea Szekely
Andras Gabor Hubai
Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
BMJ Open Gastroenterology
title Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
title_full Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
title_fullStr Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
title_short Prevalence, epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of Gibraltar
title_sort prevalence epidemiology and associated healthcare burden of rome iv irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia in the adult population of gibraltar
url https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000979.full
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