High Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Patients Attending Urological Outpatient Departments

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome patients often complainof urinary symptoms such as frequency, urgency, anddysuria, raising the possibility of inappropriatereferral to the urologist. To resolve this issue, the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome wascompared in patients attending urological and controlclinics (dermatology and ENT). The overall prevalence ofirritable bowel syndrome was 31.2% in the urological clinic compared with 21.2% in the controls (P< 0.001), but striking differences emerged, dependingon presenting complaint. Irritable bowel symptoms wereparticularly common in patients presenting with loin pain (male: 40.9%, P = 0.004; female: 50%, P =0.03), dysuria (male: 43.8%, P = 0.007; female: 46.2%,P = 0.01) and frequency/urgency (male: 31.7%, P = 0.002;female: 42.4%, P = 0.006), and the male/femaleprevalence was 24% and 44%. These results suggest that inirritable bowel syndrome, urinary symptoms includingloin pain can present diagnostic dilemmas in both thegastroenterological and urological setting, underlining the importance of specialists in these fieldsworking together in order to define better ways ofmanaging such patients.