ArticleBMC medicine2022
Global prevalence and burden of meal-related abdominal pain.
Article in BMC medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- When Food Avoidance Meets Compatible Diagnostic Criteria: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Features in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2026Article
- Individual Perceptions and Self-Care Practices for Abdominal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Survey Conducted in Italian Community Pharmacies.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dietary Therapies for Gastrointestinal Disorders.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of gut health.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Article
- Immune-based personalized elimination diet for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: a double-blind randomized sham-controlled study.Gastroenterology report · 2026Article
- Trends in the disease burden of inflammatory bowel disease among the working-age population (20-64 years) from 1990 to 2021: a population-based study.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of Meal-Related Abdominal Discomfort or Pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2025Article
- Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in the UK adult population and perceived effects of foods.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Chronic Abdominal Pain and Gastrointestinal Symptoms 12 Years After Primary Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A Cross-Sectional Controlled Study.Obesity surgery · 2025Article
- Symptom profiles compatible with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) in organic gastrointestinal diseases: A global population-based study.United European gastroenterology journal · 2024Article
- Impact of preexisting digestive problems on the gastrointestinal symptoms of patients with omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infection.PloS one · 2024Article
- Role of Diet-Microbiome Interaction in Gastrointestinal Disorders and Strategies to Modulate Them with Microbiome-Targeted Therapies.Annual review of nutrition · 2023Review
- Irritable bowel syndrome with food-related symptoms: Future directions in the clinical management.United European gastroenterology journal · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) report meal intake to be associated with symptoms. DGBI patients with meal-related symptoms may have more severe symptoms overall and worse health outcomes, but this subgroup has not been well characterized. We aimed to describe the global prevalence of meal-related abdominal pain and characterize this subgroup.
methodsThe data analyzed originated from the Internet survey component of the population-based Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study, completed in 26 countries (n = 54,127). Adult subjects were asked whether they had abdominal pain and how often this was meal-related. Respondents were categorized into "no," "occasional," and "frequent" meal-related abdominal pain groups based on 0%, 10-40%, and ≥50% of the pain episodes being meal-related, respectively. DGBI diagnoses, frequency of other GI symptoms, psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, quality of life, and healthcare utilization were compared between groups. Mixed linear and ordinal regression was used to assess independent associations between psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, quality of life, other GI symptoms, and meal-related abdominal pain.
resultsOverall, 51.9% of the respondents reported abdominal pain in the last 3 months, and 11.0% belonged to the group with frequent meal-related abdominal pain, which included more females and younger subjects. DGBI diagnoses were more common in subjects with frequent meal-related abdominal pain, and the frequency of several GI symptoms was associated with having more frequent meal-related abdominal pain. Having meal-related abdominal pain more frequently was also associated with more severe psychological distress, non-GI somatic symptoms, and a poorer quality of life. The group with frequent meal-related abdominal pain also more often consulted a doctor for bowel problems compared to the other groups of meal-related abdominal pain.
conclusionReporting frequent meal-related abdominal pain is common across the globe and associated with other GI and non-GI somatic symptoms, psychological distress, healthcare utilization, and a poorer quality of life. Individuals who frequently experience meal-related abdominal pain also more frequently fulfill the diagnostic criteria for DGBI. Assessing meal-related symptoms in all DGBI patients could be of major importance to improve and individualize symptom management.
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