Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common bowel disorder that manifests as unexplained abdominal pain or discomfort and bowel habit changes in the form of diarrhea, constipation, or alternating patterns of the two. Some evidences demonstrate that increased physical activity improves IBS symptoms. Hence, daily exercise is recommended in these patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and gastrointestinal symptoms in 101 university students (female = 78) with IBS. Participants were examined by Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale (GSRS), and gait steps were measured for 1 week using a pedometer. The association between the GSRS score and pedometer counts was determined by ordinal logistic modeling analysis. The ordinal logistic regression model for GSRS and locomotor activity showed a significant stepwise fit (z = -3.05, p = 0.002). The logistic curve separated GSRS score of 5 points (moderately severe discomfort) from 2 points (minor discomfort) by locomotor activity. The probability for daily locomotor activity to discriminate between 5 and 4 points of GSRS (i.e., likely to have reverse symptoms) decreased in accordance with increment of steps per day: 78% probability for 4000 steps, 70% probability for 6000 steps, 59% probability for 8000 steps, and 48% probability for 10000 steps. This study demonstrated that the severity of GSRS is associated with the amount of walking in younger people with IBS. These results may be used as a measure to determine the daily step count to reduce the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in individuals with IBS.
Highlights
This study investigated the relationship between the number of daily step counts and GI symptoms by applying an ordinal logistic model to data collected from younger people with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Our results indicated that locomotor activity and GI symptoms were correlated, and threshold levels of locomotor activity that could predict GI symptoms in IBS exist
On the ordinal logistic regression analysis data from the female participants were comparable to the overall results of the analysis, while the data from the male participants were not
Summary
We aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and gastrointestinal symptoms in 101 university students with IBS. We aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and GI symptoms among younger people with IBS and to estimate the extent of GI symptoms attenuated by achieving the recommended amount of daily activity as per Health Japan 21 [10]. Participants were informed that the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between GI symptoms and physical activity among participants with IBS during the informed consent procedure. Symptoms vary with age [39]; future studies with larger cohorts should be stratified by age and IBS subtype to further investigate the relationship between physical activity and digestive symptoms. (6) The purpose of the study was explained to the participants during the informed consent process Symptoms vary with age [39]; future studies with larger cohorts should be stratified by age and IBS subtype to further investigate the relationship between physical activity and digestive symptoms. (6) The purpose of the study was explained to the participants during the informed consent process
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