Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Apr 16, 2021; 9(11): 2487-2502
Published online Apr 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i11.2487
Differences in dietary habits of people with vs without irritable bowel syndrome and their association with symptom and psychological status: A pilot study
Qiao Meng, Geng Qin, Shu-Kun Yao, Guo-Hui Fan, Fen Dong, Chang Tan
Qiao Meng, Shu-Kun Yao, Chang Tan, Graduate School, Peking University China-Japan Friendship School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
Geng Qin, Shu-Kun Yao, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
Guo-Hui Fan, Fen Dong, Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
Author contributions: Meng Q and Tan C performed the study, analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript; Dong F and Fan GH gave guidance to data processing; Qin G contributed to project design and supervised the investigation progress; Yao SK designed the study, revised the manuscript, and supervised the study performance.
Supported by The National Key Technology Support Program during “12th Five-Year Plan” Period of China, No. 2014BAI08B00; and the Leap-forward Development Program for Beijing Biopharmaceutical Industry (G20), No. Z171100001717008.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of China-Japan Friendship Hospital (No. 2015-33).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided written informed consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shu-Kun Yao, MD, PhD, Professor, Graduate School, Peking University China-Japan Friendship School of Clinical Medicine, No. 2 Yinghua East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China. shukunyao@126.com
Received: December 5, 2020
Peer-review started: December 5, 2020
First decision: December 24, 2020
Revised: December 28, 2020
Accepted: February 19, 2021
Article in press: February 19, 2021
Published online: April 16, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Previous studies have demonstrated that dietary factors are involved in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the role of diet was evaluated mostly based on food frequency questionnaire. Whether food categories, quantity per time, and intake frequency are different between IBS patients and non-IBS individuals has not been clearly clarified.

AIM

To explore differences in dietary habits of people with vs without IBS and their correlation with symptom and psychological status.

METHODS

A total of 220 questionnaires were administered in a community population and the Rome IV criteria was applied to diagnose IBS. The dietary questionnaire used in this study was multidimensional from food categories, quantity per time, and intake frequency, in contrast to “yes or no” classification used in previous studies. Questionnaires including IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS), IBS quality of life, visceral sensitivity index, hospital anxiety and depression score (HADS), and gastrointestinal symptom rating scale were used to assess the participants. Rank sum test was used to compare the quantity per time and intake frequency between IBS patients and non-IBS participants. The correlation between psychological factors and diet was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the possible dietary risk factors for IBS.

RESULTS

In total, 203 valid questionnaires were collected (response rate 92.3%). Twenty-five participants met the Rome IV criteria for IBS, including 15 (60.0%) women and 10 (40.0%) men. Compared with the non-IBS group, the quantity per time and intake frequency of soybean and its products, spicy food, and dry-fried nuts were statistically significant in IBS participants (P < 0.05). They were positively associated with IBS-SSS and HADS anxiety and depression scores (P < 0.05). Besides, seafood, soft drinks, vegetables, and fruits differed only in quantity per time. The intake frequencies of egg, barbecue, and coarse grain were statistically significant in IBS patients (P < 0.05). We also found that the frequency of soybean and its products (≥ 7 times/week, odds ratio = 11.613, 95% confidence interval: 2.145-62.855, P = 0.004) was an independent risk factor for IBS.

CONCLUSION

Both quantity per time and intake frequency, especially soybean, differ between IBS patients and non-IBS participants. Dietary habits might play potential roles in the pathophysiology of IBS.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome, Dietary habits, Quantity per time, Intake frequency, Symptom severity, Psychosocial status

Core Tip: This study investigated the dietary habits between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and non-IBS participants based on a multidimensional questionnaire. We found that quantity per time and intake frequency of some foods were positively associated with symptom and psychological status, especially soybean. The intake frequency of soybean and its products was an independent risk factor for IBS.