Prevalence and endurance of gastrointestinal symptoms. The HUNT study

*INTRODUCTION:* The objectives of this study were to identify the prevalence of functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to Rome II in a general Norwegian population and further to explore the prevalence and the continuity of gastrointestinal (GI) complaints over a period of eight years. *AIMS & METHODS:* In 2004, 1118 persons (mean age 59.9 years (21-91), 54.4% women) from Verdal municipality, Nord-Trøndelag County, Norway, attended a population based screening survey including a research diagnostic questionnaire for functional GI disorders. 807 (54.0% women) of these persons had also participated in the second Nord-Trøndelag health study (HUNT 2) in 1996 in which participants reported to what degree (not at all, slightly or very much) they had the following GI complaints: nausea, heartburn/acid regurgitation, diarrhoea and constipation. Only numbers on very much are reported below. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate the reproducibility of GI complaints. *RESULTS:* In 2004, the observed prevalence of FD was 1.6% in men (95% CI: 0.7 3.1) and 3.9% in women (95% CI: 2.5-5.7), where 37.5% of men and 43.5% of women graded their abdominal pain/discomfort as very much. IBS was found in 7.2% in men (95% CI: 5.0-9.7) and 12.4% in women (95% CI: 9.8-15.5) among whom 21.1% of the men and 43.9% of the women reported very much abdominal pain/discomfort. The prevalence of nausea was 1.7% (0.8% in men, 2.4% in women), heartburn/acid regurgitation was 5.3% (6.3% in men, 4.5% in women), diarrhoea was 4.3% (3.6% in men, 4.9% in women) and constipation was 4.3 (1.9% in men, 6.3% in women). Of those who reported nausea in 1996, none (95% CI: 0.0-33.3) reported nausea eight years later, the corresponding numbers for heartburn/acid regurgitation was 33.3% (95% CI: 19.6-50.0), for diarrhoea 40.0% (95% CI: 19.1-64.0) and for constipation 51.9% (95% CI: 31.9-71.3). The Kappa statistics for these GI complaints were 0.26, 0.32, 0.32 and 0.34, respectively. Of persons with diarrhoea or constipation, 51.3% and 50.0%, respectively, were categorized to suffer from IBS. *CONCLUSION:* The prevalence of FD and IBS in a general Norwegian population is in line with what is reported elsewhere. Less than half of the persons with FD or IBS reported to have very much abdominal pain/discomfort. One out of two persons suffering from diarrhoea and constipation was categorized to have IBS. GI complaints were reproduced only marginally over a period of eight years, as judged by the Kappa statistics. Still, a great number of people with diarrhoea, heartburn/acid regurgitation and constipation reported the complaints again after eight years, whereas complaints from nausea vanished.