Characterizing the Impact of Disorders of the Gut-Brain Interaction on Mental and Physical Health Functioning Among Spanish-Speaking Latino Adults Living in the United States

Abstract

Introduction: Latino individuals are underrepresented in the DGBI literature, and no work has explored how DGBI impact health and well-being in this group. Method: The current study sought to explore how DGBI impact health factors in a sample of Latino individuals (N=292; 80.80% female; M age =37.65 years, SD=11.98) with (n=60) and without (n=232) a ROME-IV diagnosed DGBI. Results: DGBI was associated with increased pain intensity, pain disability, cardiovascular risk, depressive symptoms, and anxiety/panic symptoms and lower physical health-related QoL and mental health-related QoL controlling for age, sex, and nativity. Discussion: Better understanding mental health and treatment seeking behaviors among Latino individuals may help clinical gastroenterologists engage their Latino patients to a greater extent and thus provide higher quality of care.