Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Medical Staff: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional digestive tract disease worldwide, with a high prevalence among medical staff. The purpose of this study is to systematically evaluate the prevalence and influencing factors of IBS in medical staff.

Methods: We searched English online databases, including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and EBSCOhost. The retrieval time was from database establishment to May of 2021. We screened the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the relevant information, and evaluated the research quality. A meta-analysis was performed using the Stata 16.0 and Review Manager 5.4.1 software.

Results: A total of 11 English studies from seven countries were included in this study, including 3,360 medical staff. The results of the meta-analysis showed an overall prevalence of IBS among medical staff of 16% [95%CI (0.15 ~ 0.17)] and that shift work (OR 2.27)), poor sleep quality (OR 4.27), and female gender (OR 2.29) are the major influencing factors of medical staff suffering from IBS.

Conclusions: The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome among medical staff is relatively high, and hospitals can start by looking for targeted interventions from the highly related factors of IBS among medical staff such as shift work patterns, females, and poor sleep quality.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome; Medical staff; Meta-analysis; Prevalence.