Epidemiology of FGID symptoms in Japanese general population with reference to life style

Gastrointestinal symptoms are quite common among the general population, but different survey methods show different epidemiology, and the effect of psychosocial and behavioral factors on the symptoms have been studied mainly by the subgroup The aims of this studies are; 1: to clarify the difference of the survey methods on the epidemiology of FGID symptoms, 2: correlation with psycho-behavioral background in symptomatic subjects.

Questionnaires focused on GI symptoms and psycho-behavioral background were generated. Questionnaires were sent via e-mail and postal mail to the members of the registered panel.

A total of 2125 and 11,020 responses were recovered from electronic survey and postal survey. Significant difference in the prevalence of GI symptoms, 47% in electronic survey and 25% in postal survey, were observed. Despite the difference in the prevalence, the proportions of symptom subtypes and the patterns of the overlaps were similar in the two methods. In the analysis of the effect of psycho-behavioral factors, this study showed that those who have higher level of psycho-behavioral problem had higher prevalence of GERD, FD and IBS symptoms. Those who have impairment in the wellness sensation such as good eating, good bowel movement and good sleep showed higher prevalence of each symptom. Those who prefer unhealthier food have higher prevalence of GI symptoms.

These data suggest that psycho-behavioral conditions may affect the development of functional GI symptoms regardless of the subtypes of GI symptoms, and may explain the high proportion of overlap in the subtypes.