Table 1.
Distribution of demographic variables in subjects with and without IBS
| Overall, n=461 (%) | IBS, n=106 (%) | Non-IBS, n=355 (%) | P valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean ± s.d. | 56 ± 22 | 47 ± 18 | 58 ± 22 | <0.001 |
| Female, n (%) | 223 (48.4%) | 52 (49.1%) | 171 (48.2%) | 0.87 |
| Married | 312 (67.7%) | 73 (68.9%) | 239 (67.3%) | 0.90 |
| Educational levelb | 0.25 | |||
| Less than high school | 51 (11.1%) | 4 (3.8%) | 47 (13.2%) | |
| High school/some college | 199 (43.2%) | 46 (43.4%) | 153 (43.1%) | |
| College/professional training | 113 (24.5%) | 21 (19.8%) | 92 (25.9%) | |
| Ever smoked | 62 (13.5%) | 20 (18.9%) | 42 (11.8%) | 0.46 |
| Ever used alcohol | 228 (49.5%) | 46 (43.4%) | 182 (51.3%) | 0.008 |
| BMI, mean±s.d. | 27 ± 5 | 27 ± 5 | 27 ± 6 | 0.92 |
| Physician visits in the past year | 96/267 (40.0%) | 39/76 (51.3%) | 57/191 (29.8%) | <0.001 |
BMI, body mass index; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome.
a
From a logistic regression model to predict IBS, adjusting for age and gender.
b
A minority failed to provide their information on educational level.