The Prevalence of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in the Chinese Air Force Population

Abstract

Background. Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common in the general population worldwide. However, there is paucity of large sale surveys for prevalence of FGID in the military personnel. Methods. It is a cross-sectional study, using Rome III criteria for the diagnosis of FGID among the Chinese Air Force (CAF) workers. Results. Of 4633 registered male subjects, there were 818 (16.4%) air crew and 4170 (83.6%) ground personnel. FGIDs were identified in 1088 (23.48%) of cases. It was more prevalent in the ground personnel than air crew (24.02% versus 20.33%; P = 0.022). Based on Rome III criteria, the commonest disease category was functional gastroduodenal disorder (37.4%), whereas functional nausea and vomiting disorder (FNV) was the most frequent overall diagnosis. Functional dyspepsia (FD) with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was the leading FGIDs' overlap (3.9%). Conclusion. FGIDs in CAF population are rather underestimated. This necessitates preventive strategies according to job characteristics.

Burden of functional gastrointestinal disorders in a surgical clinic in Sri Lanka

“…Other population-based studies have reported a lower incidence of FGID (26.2 %) than this [8] suggesting a wide variation of FGID among deferent populations. Still fewer studies have been conducted in a tertiary care setting.…”

Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Young Military Men

“…Moreover, about 37% of soldiers were aged over 25 (13.1% were in age >35). 20 According to the another study of Chinese college and university students of the young age group, the prevalence of total FGIDs was 23%. 10 However, considering the fact that FGIDs are more prevalent in females, the results of our study may agree with those of the Chinese study.…”

“…This result is lower than that from a study of Chinese air force population (23.5%). 20 However, among the 4,170 soldiers, 1,070 officers with higher education and longer years of service were included in that study. Moreover, about 37% of soldiers were aged over 25 (13.1% were in age >35).…”

“…In a Chinese study of the same age and race group, depression also showed an OR of 0.55, although the 95% CI included 1.0 (95% CI, 0.15 to 1.05; p=0.045). 20 According to a study of the brain-gut pathway, which is presumed to be one pathophysiology of the FGIDs, depression was not an independent predictor for developing FGIDs, whereas anxiety was a risk factor. 34 The exact reason or mechanism is unclear regarding this issue.…”

Gastrointestinal problems in modern wars: clinical features and possible mechanisms

“…It would be interesting to know whether FGIDs are also prevalent among military personnel and what type of FGID is predominant in the armed forces. A population-based survey of the Chinese air force [ 28 ] revealed that more than 23 % of air crew and ground personnel reported gastrointestinal symptoms that fulfilled the Rome III criteria for FGIDs. Additionally, a German study reported that approximately 50 % soldiers who sought health care for gastrointestinal problems [ 29 ] were diagnosed with FGIDs.…”