Abstract: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a worldwide epidemic of functional bowel disease. Its characteristics of difficult to cure and easy to relapse seriously affect the quality of life of patients and also bring huge economic burden to the society. The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome varies from region to region, country to country and even within one country. Although the pathogenesis of IBS is not clear, it is believed that IBS is induced by multiple factors. Recent studies have found that psychosocial factors, life and diet habits, intestinal flora disorders, intestinal infection, endogenous cannabinoid system abnormalities, vitamin D deficiency and other pathogenic factors play important roles in the pathogenesis of IBS. The study reviews the recent research progress related to IBS from the aspects of the epidemiology and pathogenic factors.