Duncanson K^1,2,3, Burrows T^4,5, Keely S^6,7, Potter M⁸, Das G⁹, Walker M^10,11, Talley NJ¹². Nutrients. 2019 Oct 28;11(11). pii: E2590. doi: 10.3390/nu11112590.

Author information

1 School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. kerith.duncanson@newcastle.edu.au.

2 Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. kerith.duncanson@newcastle.edu.au.

3 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. kerith.duncanson@newcastle.edu.au.

4 School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. tracy.burrows@newcastle.edu.au.

5 Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. tracy.burrows@newcastle.edu.au.

6 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. simon.keely@newcastle.edu.au.

7 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. simon.keely@newcastle.edu.au.

8 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. michael.potter@newcastle.edu.au.

9 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. gayatri.das@uon.edu.au.

10 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. marjorie.walker@newcastle.edu.au.

11 School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. marjorie.walker@newcastle.edu.au.

12 Priority Research Centre, Digestive Health and Neurogastroenterology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. nicholas.talley@newcastle.edu.au.

Abstract

Food ingestion is heavily implicated in inducing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia (FD), which affect over one-third of adults in developed countries. The primary aim of this paper was to assess the alignment of dietary assessment and symptom-reporting capture periods in diet-related studies on IBS or FD in adults. Secondary aims were to compare the degree of alignment, validity of symptom-reporting tools and reported significant associations between food ingestion and symptoms. A five-database systematic literature search resulted in 40 included studies, from which data were extracted and collated. The food/diet and symptom capture periods matched exactly in 60% (n = 24/40) of studies, overlapped in 30% (n = 12/40) of studies and were not aligned in 10% (n = 4/40) of studies. Only 30% (n = 12/40) of studies that reported a significant association between food and global gastrointestinal symptoms used a validated symptom-reporting tool. Of the thirty (75%) studies that reported at least one significant association between individual gastrointestinal symptoms and dietary intake, only four (13%) used a validated symptom tool. Guidelines to ensure that validated symptom-reporting tools are matched with fit-for-purpose dietary assessment methods are needed to minimise discrepancies in the alignment of food and symptom tools, in order to progress functional gastrointestinal disorder research.