Symptom Comparisons Between Asian American and White American Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Claire Jungyoun Han, Chaoqun Dong, Monica E Jarrett and 1 others
PMID 29847397WHAT IT FOUND
White-American women with IBS reported more abdominal pain days than Asian-American women.
Psychological distress linked to gut symptoms in White-American women, but not Asian-American women, except for bloating. Bowel pattern subtype differences may explain some symptom gaps.
Key findings
01The mean percent of days with moderate/severe abdominal pain differed between Asian-American and White-American women (p = .055), a marginal trend.
02In White-American women, depression and fatigue correlated with pain and other GI symptoms, but these relationships were not significant in Asian-American women.
03In Asian-American women, intestinal gas and bloating were positively related to daily psychological distress, with the strongest link between bloating and stress (r = 0.81).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small, especially for Asian-American women (n=21), limiting statistical power. The study was cross-sectional and could not determine causality. Dietary intake data were not collected, so differences in diet cannot explain the findings. The study only included women, so results cannot be generalized to men. Data on generation (immigrant vs. native-born) were not collected, which may confound cultural effects.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Asian-American women experience less pain or distress overall. The study found marginal trends, not significant differences in symptom severity, and the lack of correlation between distress and symptoms in this group may reflect cultural differences in reporting or perception rather than an absence of distress.