Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Sep 26;S1542-3565(22)00917-X.doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2022.09.019. Online ahead of print.

Anjali Byale ¹, Ryan J Lennon ², Siddharth Byale ³, Margaret Breen-Lyles ¹, Adam L Edwinson ¹, Ruchi Gupta ², Brian E Lacy ⁴, Janet E Olson ², Lesley A Houghton ⁵, Madhusudan Grover ⁶

Author information

¹Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

²Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

³Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

⁴Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

⁵Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; Division of Gastroenterology and Surgical Sciences, Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.

⁶Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Electronic address: grover.madhusudan@mayo.edu.

Abstract

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a pain disorder classified by bowel habits, disregarding other factors that may influence the clinical course. The aim of this study was to determine if IBS patients can be clustered based on clinical, dietary, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors.

Methods: Between 2013-20, Mayo Clinic Biobank surveyed and received 40,291 responses to a questionnaire incorporating Rome III criteria. Factors associated with IBS were determined and, latent class analysis, a model-based clustering, was performed on IBS cases.

Results: We identified 4,021 IBS patients (mean 64 years; 75% female) and 12,063 controls. Using 26 variables separating cases from controls, the optimal clustering revealed seven latent clusters. These were characterized by perceived health impairment (moderate or severe), psychoneurological factors, and bowel dysfunction (diarrhea or constipation predominance). Health impairment clusters demonstrated more pain, with "severe" cluster also having more psychiatric comorbidities. The next three clusters had unique enrichment of psychiatric, neurological or both comorbidities. The bowel dysfunction clusters demonstrated less abdominal pain, with diarrhea cluster most likely to report pain improvement with defecation. Constipation cluster had the highest exercise score, consumption of fruits, vegetables, and alcohol. The distribution of clusters remained similar when Rome IV criteria were applied. Physiologic tests were available on a limited subset (6%), and there were no significant differences between clusters.

Conclusions: In this cohort of older IBS patients, seven distinct clusters were identified demonstrating varying degrees of GI symptoms, comorbidities, dietary, and lifestyle factors. Further research is required to assess whether these unique clusters could be used to direct clinical trials and individualize patient management.