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Table 5 Healthcare utilization in subjects grouped by frequency of meal-related abdominal pain

From: Global prevalence and burden of meal-related abdominal pain

Healthcare utilization

Frequency of meal-related abdominal pain

No (n = 9756)

Occasional (n = 12,377)

Frequent (n = 5932)

Visited doctor because of bowel problems

36.3 (35.3, 37.3)

49.8 (48.9, 50.7)

59.4 (58.2, 60.6)

Kind of doctor

 General practitioner or family doctor

28.5 (27.6, 29.4)

36.5 (35.7, 37.3)

46.2 (44.9, 47.5)

 Gastroenterologist

17.0 (16.3, 17.7)

24.6 (23.8, 25.4)

30.3 (29.1, 31.5)

 Gynecologist

1.9 (1.6, 2.2)

3.1 (2.8, 3.4)

5.3 (4.7, 5.9)

 Surgeon

2.9 (2.6, 3.2)

3.8 (3.5, 4.1)

5.2 (4.6, 5.8)

 Folk healer or traditional healer

0.3 (0.2, 0.4)

0.6 (0.5, 0.7)

1.2 (0.9, 1.5)

 Ayurvedic doctor

0.1 (0.0, 0.1)

0.2 (0.1, 0.3)

0.3 (0.2, 0.4)

 Homeopathic doctor

0.9 (0.7, 1.1)

1.5 (1.3, 1.7)

2.5 (2.1, 2.9)

 Traditional Chinese medicine doctor

0.6 (0.4, 0.8)

1.5 (1.3, 1.7)

1.8 (1.5, 2.1)

 Chiropractor

0.2 (0.1, 0.3)

0.4 (0.3, 0.5)

0.7 (0.5, 0.9)

  1. The proportion of subjects using a specific type of health care in the “no,” “occasional,” and “frequent” groups was determined within each group. “No”: abdominal pain 0% of the time meal-related; “occasional”: abdominal pain 10–40% of the time meal-related; “Frequent”: abdominal pain ≥ 50% of the time meal-related. Data are presented as percentage (95% confidence interval)