A patient questionnaire to identify bowel disease

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Functional gastrointestinal symptoms are prevalent, leading to frequent specialist referrals.
• A validated self-report questionnaire for diagnosing these conditions was previously unavailable.
• Accurate differentiation is crucial for appropriate patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a self-report questionnaire for diagnosing functional gastrointestinal disorders.
• To differentiate between non-ulcer dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, organic gastrointestinal disease, and healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 46-item Bowel Disease Questionnaire.
• Prospective completion by 361 outpatients prior to clinical evaluation.
• Independent clinical categorization of subjects into functional bowel disease, organic disease, or healthy groups.

Main Results:

• The questionnaire demonstrated high reliability and validity for assessing functional bowel complaints.
• It accurately discriminated non-ulcer dyspepsia from irritable bowel syndrome (75% sensitivity, 72% specificity).
• The tool differentiated functional bowel disease from organic disease and health with high sensitivity (85% and 83%) and moderate specificity (60% and 76%).

Conclusions:

• The Bowel Disease Questionnaire is an acceptable and easily completed diagnostic tool.
• It serves as a valuable aid in identifying patients with functional gastrointestinal symptoms.
• The questionnaire supports differential diagnosis in gastroenterology practice.