Dietary Behaviors, Digestive Symptoms, and Neurovegetative Features in Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction: A Cross-Sectional Clinical Study.

Background/

Objectives

Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs), particularly irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), are frequently underdiagnosed in clinical practice, contributing to a substantial hidden burden of disease. This study aimed to quantify this "symptomatic iceberg" by comparing the prevalence of formal IBS diagnoses with a broader symptom-based case definition in a clinical cohort.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 194 adult subjects from a gastroenterology clinic in Western Romania. Data on demographics, clinical diagnoses, self-reported symptoms, and eating behaviors were collected. For the case-control analysis, patients with confirmed organic gastrointestinal pathology or incomplete data were excluded. The final analytical sample consisted of 52 patients classified as having a functional DGBI phenotype and 84 asymptomatic controls without organic disease, while 58 were excluded from the analysis.

Results

While only 4.4% (95% CI: 2.0-9.3%) of the cohort (N = 136) had a formal IBS diagnosis, 47.8% (95% CI: 39.6-56.1%) met criteria for an IBS-compatible symptom cluster, yielding an underdiagnosis ratio of 10.8. Neuro-vegetative symptoms such as sweating (19.1%) and dizziness (11.8%) were highly prevalent. In the case-control analysis, patients with a functional DGBI phenotype had a significantly higher mean BMI compared to controls (28.15 ± 6.49 vs. 24.47 ± 4.60 kg/m2; p = 0.001). DGBI cases were less likely to report regular snacking behavior (OR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.18-0.74; p = 0.009), suggesting behavioral adaptation. A sensitivity analysis excluding participants with CRP > 10 mg/L (n = 98) confirmed the robustness of these associations, indicating that minor systemic inflammation did not bias the primary findings.