JE Oh et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023; 21: 2370-2377. Open Access! Abdominal Bloating in the United States: Results of a Survey of 88,795 Americans Examining Prevalence and Healthcare Seeking

88,795 completed surveys detailing prevalence of bloating in preceding 7 days.

Key findings:

• Nearly 1 in 7 (12,324 (13.9%) Americans have experienced bloating symptom in the past week; 58.5% never sought care for bloating—29% of whom were self-managing symptoms or were uncomfortable discussing symptoms with their providers
• Women and those with comorbidities (eg, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, ulcerative colitis) and concomitant GI symptoms (eg, abdominal pain, excess gas) had higher odds for bloating (all P < .001) and severe bloating (all P < .001

My take: This study shows that a lot individuals have bloating.

Related blog posts:

• Expert Advice on Bloating
• “How to Approach a Patient with Difficult-to-Treat IBS”
• Understanding Functional Abdominal Distention
• Abdominal distention -a medical mystery