Dietary patterns, digestive symptoms, and health-related quality of life in women reporting minor digestive symptoms

Objective: Digestive symptoms are reported to result from a wide range of dietary components. Dietary pattern analysis is a useful method when considering the entire diet, rather than individual foods or nutrients, providing an opportunity to take interactions into account. The aim of the present study was to investigate, using a dietary pattern approach, the relationship between diet, digestive symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women reporting minor digestive symptoms. Methods: Analysis was performed on dietary and digestive symptoms data collected in France. Women (N = 308, ages 18-60 y) reporting a bowel movement frequency within the normal range (3-21 stools/wk) but with minor digestive symptoms in the previous month were studied. Dietary data was collected using three 24-h recalls. K-means was used to divide the dietary data into clusters. The frequency of digestive symptoms (abdominal discomfort or pain, bloating, flatulence, borborygmi) and bowel movements were evaluated over a 2-wk period. HRQoL was also assessed. Results: Four dietary clusters were identified and characterized as unhealthy, balance, healthy, and convenience. No differences were found in the frequency of digestive symptoms according to dietary cluster, except for flatulence (P = 0.030), which was more prevalent in the unhealthy and convenience clusters. No significant differences were observed in HRQoL according to dietary clusters. Conclusions: Results from the present study demonstrated that even within a relatively homogeneous sample of French women, distinct dietary patterns can be identified but without significant differences in digestive symptoms (except for flatulence) or HRQoL. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.