Functional bowel symptoms, fibromyalgia and fatigue: A food-induced triad?

Figures & data

Table I. Patients characteristics.

Patients, total number	84
Age, mean years (range)	37 (18–77)
Gender	57 (68%) women
BMI, mean (range)	23,5 (15.6–36.7)
IBS SSS
>300 (severe)	46 (55%)
175 - 300 (moderate)	34 (40%)
75 - 175 (mild)	3 (4%)
< 75 (no IBS)	1 (1%)
IBS characteristics
Diarrhea predominant	42 (50%)
Constipation predominant	18 (21%)
Constipation/diarrhea Mixed	24 (29%)
Incomplete evacuation	73 (87%)
Defecation at night	12 (14%)
Joint pain	60 (71%)
Fatigue
Fatigue Impact Scale >25	71 (85%)
FibroFatigue scale >15	72 (86%)
Allergy
Phadiatop positive*	27 (32%)
Fx5 positive*	8 (10%)
Total sIgE >114 kU/L*	10 (12%)
Malabsorption
Fecal fat >7g/d	10 of 38 (26%)

Abbreviation: Number (%) = number of patients (% of total material).

*Standard panels of inhalant (Phadiatop) and food (fx5) allergens (ImmunoCAP, Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden).

Figure 1. Correlation (Spearman) between patients' (Fatigue Impact Scale) and doctor's (FibroFatigue Scale) scoring of fatigue. Dotted lines indicate arbitrary cut-offs for clinically significant fatigue (see text).

Figure 2. Bowel habits are unrelated to scores on fatigue (FibroFatigue Scale) or body mass index (BMI).