Mediating effect of gastrointestinal symptoms on dietary behavior and quality of life in Chinese adults with chronic gastritis-a cross-sectional study

Litong Zhao; Feng Zhang; Dan Kuang; Dan Li; Jiai Yan; Ju Yang; Qinyue Wang; Yingyu Wang; Jing Sun; Yiran Liu; Ping Liu; Yanping Xia; Hong Cao

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1178897

Mediating effect of gastrointestinal symptoms on dietary behavior and quality of life in Chinese adults with chronic gastritis-a cross-sectional study

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Aug 3:10:1178897. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1178897. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Litong Zhao^{1

2}, Feng Zhang^{1

2

3

4}, Dan Kuang¹, Dan Li^{1

2}, Jiai Yan^{2

3}, Ju Yang^{2

3}, Qinyue Wang^{2

3}, Yingyu Wang^{2

3}, Jing Sun^{2

3}, Yiran Liu^{2

3}, Ping Liu⁵, Yanping Xia^{2

3}, Hong Cao^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
² Nutritional Department, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
³ Clinical Assessment Center of Functional Food, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
⁴ Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
⁵ Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, The Affiliated Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China.

Abstract

Background: Chronic gastritis is accompanied by varying degrees of gastrointestinal symptoms, which affect people's quality of life. The association between dietary behaviors and gastrointestinal symptoms of patients with chronic gastritis has been proved recently. However, no studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between dietary behaviors, gastrointestinal symptoms, and quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 176 patients diagnosed with chronic gastritis aged 18 to 65 years, comprising their information on demographic characteristics, dietary behaviors, gastrointestinal symptoms, and quality of life, was collected. A descriptive analysis and a correlation matrix were used to illuminate the characteristics of the subjects and bivariate correlation, respectively. The mediation model was analyzed using the PROCESS macros for SPSS.

Results: Demographic characteristics were found to influence the symptoms, dietary behaviors, and quality of life of chronic gastritis patients; in particular, students categorized by occupation had higher levels of gastrointestinal symptoms and lower levels of quality of life and dietary behavior. The study variables were all pound related. We found that gastrointestinal symptoms played a partial mediating role between dietary behavior and both the physical components summary and mental components summary, and the ratios of mediating effects to the total effect on the physical components summary and mental components summary were 23.5% and 21.5%, respectively.

Conclusion: Our survey discovered that dietary behavior, gastrointestinal symptoms, and quality of life were all pairwise related. The effect of dietary behavior on quality of life was partially mediated by gastrointestinal symptoms. These results may provide a novel perspective for medical staff in improving the quality of life of patients with chronic gastritis.

Keywords: chronic gastritis; dietary behavior; mediating effect; quality of life; symptom.