Table 1 Demographic features and differences between the control and the patients with IBS
Variable | Patients with IBS | Control | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frequency | Percent | Frequency | Percent | ||
Sex | |||||
Male | 35 | 35 | 36 | 36 | 0.883 |
Female | 65 | 65 | 64 | 64 | |
Age (year) | |||||
≤ 20 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0.683 |
21–30 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 17 | |
31–45 | 37 | 37 | 41 | 41 | |
46–60 | 31 | 31 | 36 | 36 | |
≥ 61 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 3 | |
Parasitic infection | 30 | 30 | 16 | 16 | 0.019 |
Type of parasitic infection | |||||
Giardia lamblia | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.004 |
Blastocystis hominis | 15 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 0.038 |
Endolimax nana | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 0.758 |
Chilomastix mesnili | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.157 |
Entamoeba coli | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0.410 |
Egg of Enterobius vermicularis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.319 |
Dientamoeba fragilis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.319 |
Living larvae | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.319 |
Mixed parasitic infections | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.024 |
Stool consistency | |||||
Formed | 84 | 84 | 86 | 86 | 0.694 |
Semi-formed | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | |
Educational level | |||||
Uneducated | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.001 |
High school or less | 43 | 43 | 5 | 5 | |
High school diploma | 21 | 21 | 11 | 11 | |
Undergraduate (AA or BA) | 22 | 22 | 36 | 36 | |
Graduate (MSc or Ph.D.) | 3 | 3 | 48 | 48 | |
Occupation | |||||
Unemployed | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.001 |
Housewife | 53 | 53 | 21 | 21 | |
Self-employed | 18 | 18 | 8 | 8 | |
Student | 5 | 5 | 13 | 13 | |
Clerk | 22 | 22 | 57 | 57 | |
Level of stress and anxiety | |||||
High | 72 | 72 | 26 | 26 | 0.001 |
Low | 28 | 28 | 74 | 74 | |
Psychiatric disorders | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.044 |