Journal
BMC MEDICINE
Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02259-7
Keywords
Meal-related abdominal pain; Global prevalence; Burden; Gastrointestinal symptoms; Disorders of the gut-brain interaction; Functional gastrointestinal disorders; Epidemiology; Food
Categories
Funding
- Ironwood
- Shire
- Allergan
- Takeda
- Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) of the Ministry of Education of Malaysia [203.PPSP.6171192]
- Takeda-Israel
- Romanian Society of Neurogastroenterology
- Swedish Research Council [2018-02566]
- Swedish government [ALFGBG-722331, ALFGBG-726561]
- Swedish county councils, the ALF-agreement [ALFGBG-722331, ALFGBG-726561]
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Gothenburg
- University of Gothenburg
- Swedish Research Council [2018-02566] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council
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The study found that a significant proportion of individuals globally report meal-related abdominal pain, which is associated with other gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological distress, healthcare utilization, and quality of life. Individuals who frequently experience meal-related abdominal pain are more likely to be diagnosed with DGBI and seek medical help more often.
Background Patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) report meal intake to be associated with symptoms. DGBI patients with meal-related symptoms may have more severe symptoms overall and worse health outcomes, but this subgroup has not been well characterized. We aimed to describe the global prevalence of meal-related abdominal pain and characterize this subgroup. Methods The data analyzed originated from the Internet survey component of the population-based Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study, completed in 26 countries (n = 54,127). Adult subjects were asked whether they had abdominal pain and how often this was meal-related. Respondents were categorized into no, occasional, and frequent meal-related abdominal pain groups based on 0%, 10-40%, and >= 50% of the pain episodes being meal-related, respectively. DGBI diagnoses, frequency of other GI symptoms, psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, quality of life, and healthcare utilization were compared between groups. Mixed linear and ordinal regression was used to assess independent associations between psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, quality of life, other GI symptoms, and meal-related abdominal pain. Results Overall, 51.9% of the respondents reported abdominal pain in the last 3 months, and 11.0% belonged to the group with frequent meal-related abdominal pain, which included more females and younger subjects. DGBI diagnoses were more common in subjects with frequent meal-related abdominal pain, and the frequency of several GI symptoms was associated with having more frequent meal-related abdominal pain. Having meal-related abdominal pain more frequently was also associated with more severe psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, and a poorer quality of life. The group with frequent meal-related abdominal pain also more often consulted a doctor for bowel problems compared to the other groups of meal-related abdominal pain. Conclusion Reporting frequent meal-related abdominal pain is common across the globe and associated with other GI and non-GI somatic symptoms, psychological distress, healthcare utilization, and a poorer quality of life. Individuals who frequently experience meal-related abdominal pain also more frequently fulfill the diagnostic criteria for DGBI. Assessing meal-related symptoms in all DGBI patients could be of major importance to improve and individualize symptom management.
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