Objective To investigate the association of sleep quality with prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in communities of Shanghai.Methods A survey on prevalence of IBS in communities of Jiangqiao County,Jiading District of Shanghai was conducted using a stratified,randomized cluster-sampling method.A total of 11 569 questionnaires was collected.The IBS was diagnosed according to Rome Ⅲ criteria,and Athens Insomnia Scale (ALS) was used for selfassessment.The relationship between sleep quality and IBS was analyzed.Results The prevalence of insomnia was 21.00% in community groups,33.02% in IBS patients and 18.74% in non-IBS patients.The incidence of insomnia was significant higher in IBS group than non-IBS group (P =0.004,OR = 2.14,95 % CI:1.92- 2.39).Among IBS patients,the incidence of insomnia was higher in females than in males (37.24% vs 28.41%,P = 0.000).A logistic analysis for psychological contributing factors in IBS revealed that insomnia might be one of the risk factors for IBS (OR= 2.11,95% CI:1.89-2.36).Conclusion IBS patients have poor sleep quality,especially in females.