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Functional gastrointestinal disorders: psychological, social, and somatic features
E J Bennett1, C Piesse, K Palmer
1Department of Gastroenterology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Gut
|May 13, 1998
Summary
Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) show distinct psychological and physical symptoms specific to subgroups like functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Chronic social stressors significantly influence these FGID symptom patterns.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) present with significant psychological, social, and extraintestinal symptoms.
- Previous research has not fully explored the distinct nature of these disturbances across different FGID subgroups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate associations between psychological, social, and extraintestinal factors and specific FGID subgroups.
- To examine the relationship between FGID severity, the number of coexisting FGID, and these factors.
- To determine if chronic social stressors mediate the link between gastrointestinal, extraintestinal, and emotional symptoms in FGID.
Main Methods:
- Study included 188 outpatients diagnosed with one or more functional gastroduodenal or functional bowel disorders.
- Data on gastrointestinal, extraintestinal, psychological, and social factors were collected using detailed interviews and questionnaires.
Main Results:
- Chronic stressors, extraintestinal, and emotional symptoms were prominent in functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- These features demonstrated high specificity for particular FD and/or IBS subgroups.
- The threat component of social stressors predicted the nature and extent of multisystem symptomatology.
Conclusions:
- Significant variations among FGID subgroups underscore the validity of a symptom-based classification.
- Psychological and extraintestinal disturbances, triggered by chronic stressors, are particularly characteristic of the FD-IBS group of syndromes.
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