Ozgen, KenanŞahin, Erkan MelihUludag, AysegulPeker, EmelGunayi, ZeynepErtekin, Yusuf Haydar2025-01-272025-01-2720172602-30322602-3040https://doi.org/10.17826/cutf.322847https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/tr/yayin/detay/294978https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12428/26243Purpose: Irritable Bowel Syndrome includes a group of functional bowel diseases without organic pathology. The prevalence changes between 0.5% to 39% according to diagnostic criteria. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of IBS in primary health care by using Rome III criteria. Material and Methods: This population-based crosssectional study was carried out among 500 adults applying to primary healthcare facilities in eanakkale, Turkey. Data were collected with a data form designed by the researchers, including the Bristol Stool Scale to evaluate defecation characteristics and the ROMA III criteria for the diagnosis of IBS during face-to-face interviews. Results: Of 500 participants, 64 (12.8%) had a previous diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome who among these were 38 women (59.4%) and 26 men (40.6%). According to the ROMA III criteria no new case was identified. The male: female ratio in Irritable Bowel Syndrome diagnosed patients was 1.46. 34.3% of the patients were diagnosed at a primary healthcare facility, and 62.5% of the patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome were followed by family practitioners. Conclusion: The prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome found similar with North America and the southern of Europe. Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects mostly females, begins 30-45 age, and constipation-predominant subtype was the most frequent. ROMA III diagnostic criteria is not seem to be appropriate to recognize Irritable Bowel Syndrome cases with mild and moderate severity in primary healthcare.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPrimary health careirritable bowel syndromeprevalenceTurkeyArticle42221622210.17826/cutf.322847N/AWOS:000406284600003294978