Abstract
This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, validate, and apply a questionnaire to the Brazilian non-celiac gluten sensitive (NCGS) population. We also aimed to estimate the prevalence of symptoms which affect Brazilian NCGS. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the NCGS questionnaire was developed according to revised international guidelines. Five-hundred-and-fourty-three participants responded the NCGS questionnaire. We evaluated the reproducibility and validity of the questionnaire which presents valid measures of reproducibility. This is the first specific self-reported validated questionnaire for NCGS patients in Brazilian Portuguese, and the first nationwide characterization of self-reported NCGS in Brazilian adults. Most respondents were female (92.3%), and the main intestinal symptoms reported were bloating and abdominal pain. The most frequent extraintestinal symptoms were lack of wellbeing, tiredness, and depression. We expect that the present study will provide a picture of Brazilian individuals with suspected NCGS, which could help health professionals and governmental institutions in developing effective strategies to improve the treatment and diagnosis of Brazilian NCGS.
Highlights
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a gluten-related disorder, characterized by intestinal and extraintestinal symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten-containing food, in subjects that are not affected by celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy (WA) [1,2,3]
Unlike CD, which was first described over 8000 years ago [26], the first studies on non-celiac gluten sensitive (NCGS) were published in the late 1970s and early 1980s [27]
Since 2010 the number of studies on NCGS has grown as have the sales of gluten-free food (GFF), and both are expected to continue growing in the coming years [1,2]
Summary
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a gluten-related disorder, characterized by intestinal and extraintestinal symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten-containing food, in subjects that are not affected by celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy (WA) [1,2,3]. Due to the lack of specific biomarkers to diagnose NCGS, its diagnosis involves the elimination of CD and WA, followed by a gluten-free diet (GFD), and a challenge with gluten-containing food. The diagnostic criteria for NCGS should include self-reported gluten intolerance, negative CD serology and no WA [1,2,6]. It is difficult to access the exact prevalence of NCGS since we still do not have validated biomarkers for the diagnosis of NCGS [2,7,8,9]. Previous studies have reported a prevalence rate of NCGS between 0.5 and 13% [1,6,10,11].
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