Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan 28:2020:9086340.
doi: 10.1155/2020/9086340. eCollection 2020.

Patients with Multiple Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs) Show Increased Illness Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Care FGID Specialty Clinic

Sabrina Berens #  1 , Felicitas Engel #  1 , Annika Gauss  2 , Jonas Tesarz  1 , Wolfgang Herzog  1 , Beate Niesler  3 , Esther Stroe-Kunold  1 , Rainer Schaefert  1   4   5
Affiliations

Patients with Multiple Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs) Show Increased Illness Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Care FGID Specialty Clinic

Sabrina Berens et al. Gastroenterol Res Pract. .

Abstract

Objectives: Overlaps between different functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common. However, little is known about the impact of this overlap on patients' health status. This study is aimed at analyzing the differences between patients with multiple as compared to one single FGID.

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted with patients presenting to a tertiary care FGID specialty clinic between 06/2012 and 01/2015 (n = 294). They were characterized primarily according to their GI symptom severity (IBS-SSS) and secondarily to their physical as well as psychosocial symptom burden, quality of life, health care utilization, and work-related impairment. Differences between patients with >1 vs. 1 FGID were analyzed.

Results: Of the 294 patients, 92.2% fulfilled the Rome III criteria for any FGID, and 48.0% had >1 FGIDs. FGID patients had a median age of 38 [23.0] years; 72.0% were female. Median GI symptom severity (IBS-SSS) scores were 339 [126] and 232 [163] in patients with >1 and 1 FGID, respectively (p < .001). Furthermore, patients with >1 FGIDs had higher general somatic symptom severity, higher illness anxiety, lower quality of life, and more work-related impairment. Almost no differences were found regarding their somatic as well as mental comorbidities.

Conclusions: Multiple FGIDs are associated with an increased risk for complicated courses of illness as reflected in higher GI and somatic symptom severity, as well as stronger psychosocial and diet- and work-related impairment. Stepped and interdisciplinary models of care including psychosocial expertise and dietary advice are needed, especially for patients with multiple FGIDs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences in GI symptom severity (IBS-SSS, range 0-500) in FGID patients (total FGID patients (effective n = 267) vs. patients with 1 FGID (effective n = 140) vs. patients with >1 FGID (effective n = 127)); ∗p ≤ 0.05; ∗∗p ≤ 0.01; ∗∗∗p ≤ 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Somatic comorbidities in FGID patients (total FGID patients (effective n = 271) vs. patients with 1 FGID (effective n = 141) vs. patients with >1 FGID (effective n = 130)); ∗p ≤ 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Drossman D. A. The functional gastrointestinal disorders and the Rome III process. Gastroenterology. 2006;130(5):1377–1390. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2006.03.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Longstreth G. F., Thompson W. G., Chey W. D., Houghton L. A., Mearin F., Spiller R. C. Functional bowel disorders. Gastroenterology. 2006;130(5):1480–1491. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2005.11.061. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sperber A. D., Dumitrascu D., Fukudo S., et al. The global prevalence of ibs in adults remains elusive due to the heterogeneity of studies: a Rome Foundation working team literature review. Gut. 2017;66(6):1075–1082. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-311240. - DOI - PubMed
    1. El-Serag H., Talley N. Systemic review: the prevalence and clinical course of functional dyspepsia. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2004;19(6):643–654. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2004.01897.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xiong L. S., Shi Q., Gong X. R., Cui Y., Chen M. H. The spectra, symptom profiles and overlap of Rome III functional gastrointestinal disorders in a tertiary center in South China. Journal of Digestive Diseases. 2014;15(10):538–544. doi: 10.1111/1751-2980.12178. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources