Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: The high prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in university populations, especially among medical students, raises concerns about its impact on health and academic performance. Objective: To determine the prevalence of IBS in medical students through a systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis. Methodology: An exhaustive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase. A meta-analysis was performed to combine the overall prevalence, a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the robustness of the estimates, and meta-regressions to explore the influence of variables such as publication year and Rome criteria (III and IV). Results: Forty-three studies were included: 25 studies (n = 13,055) used Rome III criteria and 19 studies (n = 6,401) used Rome IV criteria. IBS prevalence was 22.54% (95% CI: 17.51–28.01, I² = 98%) with Rome III and 16.75% (95% CI: 12.49–21.49, I² = 96%) with Rome IV, with substantial heterogeneity across studies. Prevalence was higher in studies using probabilistic sampling and among women. Regional analysis showed variation across WHO geographic regions (ranging from 10% to 25%), though high heterogeneity persisted within all subgroups (I² > 88% in most cases). Meta-regressions showed no temporal trend. Conclusion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome is significantly prevalent among medical students, with substantial variability across studies driven by methodological factors (diagnostic criteria and sampling design) and population characteristics (sex and geographic region). High heterogeneity persisted across all subgroup analyses, indicating that local contextual factors are more influential than the broad categories examined. Probabilistic sampling protocols and standardized diagnostic criteria are recommended, as is the implementation of prevention and early management interventions in academic settings.