Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 7, 2019; 25(45): 6681-6692
Published online Dec 7, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i45.6681
Gastrointestinal discomforts and dietary intake in Chinese urban elders: A cross-sectional study in eight cities of China
Ai Zhao, Mei-Chen Wang, Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto, Li-Ping Meng, Yan Wang, Ting Li, Yu-Mei Zhang
Ai Zhao, Mei-Chen Wang, Yu-Mei Zhang, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto, Li-Ping Meng, Yan Wang, Ting Li, Yili Innovation Center, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd., Hohhot 010110, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto, Li-Ping Meng, Yan Wang, Ting Li, Inner Mongolia Dairy Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hohhot 010110, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Szeto IMY and Zhang YM contributed to study conception and design; Zhao A contributed to data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, and writing of the article; Wang MC, Meng LP, Wang Y, and Li T contributed to editing, reviewing, and final approval of the article.
Supported by the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. Ltd. (Inner Mongolia Dairy Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd.).
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Research Board of Peking University.
Informed consent statement: Written consent was obtained from the participants before the study began.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Data is available from the corresponding author at zhangyumei@bjmu.edu.cn.
STROBE statement: The guidelines of the STROBE Statement have been adopted in preparing the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Mei Zhang, PhD, Professor, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China. zhangyumei@bjmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-10-8280157563 Fax: +86-10-82801518
Received: June 6, 2019
Peer-review started: June 10, 2019
First decision: July 21, 2019
Revised: October 24, 2019
Accepted: November 13, 2019
Article in press: November 13, 2019
Published online: December 7, 2019
Processing time: 184 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Gastrointestinal (GI) discomforts are common in the elderly population; however, whether such discomforts are associated with dietary intake has not been studied.

AIM

To evaluate GI discomforts in Chinese urban elders and the associated factors.

METHODS

The gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS) was used to identify GI discomforts in 688 elders from eight cities of China. The semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and one time of 24 h dietary recall were used to access the food intake, identify dietary pattern, and calculate the nutrients intake.

RESULTS

About 83% of studied elders experienced at least one of GI discomforts in the past 6 mo; dyspepsia was the most commonly reported (66.7%), followed by reflux (44.8%), abdominal pain (35.9%), constipation (35.8%), and diarrhea (34.7%). Female gender, lower education level, and lower family income were associated with a higher GSRS score. Participants who were diagnosed with a GI-related disease had a higher score of constipation, but a lower score of reflux. Chronic diseases were positively associated with certain GI discomforts. Three dietary patterns were identified by the method of principal component analysis, which were characterized as high intake of salt and tea; more frequent intake of tubers, fruits, aquatic products, and soybeans; and high intake of cereal, vegetables, and meat, respectively. However, no associations between dietary patterns and GSRS score were found. The elders with a higher GSRS score had significantly lower intake of bean products. The elders whose GSRS score was ≥ 21 and 18-20 decreased their bean production intake by 7.2 (0.3, 14.3) g/d and 14.3 (1.2, 27.3) g/d, respectively, compared with those who had a GSRS score ≤ 17. There were no differences in other food categories, calories, or nutrients intake among elders with different GSRS scores.

CONCLUSION

GI discomforts are common in Chinese urban elders. GI discomforts might be associated with the choice of food.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal discomforts; Nutrition; Dietary intake; Nutrients; Elderly population

Core tip: Gastrointestinal (GI) discomforts were common in Chinese urban elders. Female gender, lower education level, and lower family income were associated more severe GI discomforts. Having a chronic disease and having a GI-related disease were associated with GI discomforts. GI discomforts were associated with the choice of food. Participants with GI discomforts had a significantly lower bean intake and marginally lower dairy product intake, which bring a potential risk of insufficient protein intake and consequently lead to the reducing of muscle.