JGH Open. 2024 Jan 19;8(1):e13022. doi: 10.1002/jgh3.13022. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Leigh E Wagner ¹, Kristina M Bridges ², Jill M Hinman ¹, Jianghua He ³, Daniel Buckles ⁴, Winnie Dunn ⁵, Jeanne Drisko ⁶, Debra K Sullivan ¹, Susan E Carlson ¹

Author information

¹Department of Dietetics and Nutrition University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City Kansas USA.

²Department of Family Medicine and Community Health University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City Kansas USA.

³Department of Biostatistics and Data Science University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City Kansas USA.

⁴Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Motility, Department of Internal Medicine University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City Kansas USA.

⁵Department of Occupational Therapy University of Missouri Columbia Missouri USA.

⁶Department of Internal Medicine University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City Kansas USA.

Abstract

Background and aim: Functional bowel disorders (FBDs), including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and others, are conditions without a physically identifiable etiology that, as a result, are difficult to treat. Alternatives to traditional medical interventions are needed because IBS patients require more of physician time and higher healthcare spending. The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of alternative lifestyle interventions for patients with FBDs seen in an integrative medicine (IM) clinic at an academic medical center.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review to determine whether patients with FBDs had improvement in symptoms following predominantly nutrition-based IM interventions that included recommendations for dietary supplements and elimination diets. We measured symptoms before and after intervention (average time between measurements 8.75 months) using a medical symptoms questionnaire (MSQ) commonly used to quantify symptom change in IM clinics.

Results: Digestive tract symptoms, as measured by the MSQ, improved significantly in patients (n= 57) with FBDs following IM intervention. The MSQ Digestive Tract subtotal for FBD patients decreased from 10.2 (SD, 5.4) to 7.2 (SD, 5.2) (P < 0.001) after IM intervention.

Conclusions: Patients in an IM clinic had improved digestive tract symptoms scores following IM intervention. Because nutrition-based interventions were the primary intervention recommended by IM providers, primary care physicians and gastroenterologists may wish to consider referring FBD patients to registered dietitian-nutritionists (RDNs) skilled in implementing elimination diets.