The epidemiology of functional gastrointestinal disorders

Functional gastrointestinal disorders are most commonly devided into gastro -oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), dyspepsia and the irritable bowel syndr ome WS). CORD is defined as having predominant reflux symptoms, and is nowa days not considered to be a subgroup of dyspepsia. Dyspepsia is divided int o subgroups (ulcer-like, dysmotility-like, unspecified and sometimes, when reflux symptoms are combined with abdominal complaints, reflux-like dyspeps ia). The clinical relevance of this is however doubtful. If dyspeptic sympt oms occur with concomitant bowel habit disturbances, the subject is said to have IBS. In the clinical situation, the patients often present with sympt om overlap, and with change in main symptom profile from time to time. Diff erent definition makes prevalence reports less comparable. An approximate a verage in the literature of the three-month period prevalence of GORD is th at it is reported by 10% of the population, of overall reflux symptoms by 2 5%, of dyspepsia (without predominant reflux symptoms) by 25%, of dyspepsia without concomitant reflux symptoms by 15% and of IBS by 15% of the popula tion.