Identification of Symptom Clusters and Core Symptoms in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Network Analysis in Chinese Cohorts - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #symptom clusters
- #inflammatory bowel disease
- #network analysis
- The study aimed to identify symptom clusters and core symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Chinese cohorts using network analysis.
- In Crohn's disease (CD), abdominal pain was the most prevalent symptom, and diarrhea was identified as the core symptom, while diarrhea and abdominal pain acted as bridge symptoms.
- In ulcerative colitis (UC), mucopurulent bloody stool was most common, with weight loss as the core symptom and nutritional deficiency as the primary bridge symptom.
- Five distinct symptom clusters were identified through exploratory factor analysis, and separate symptom networks were established for CD and UC.
- Bootstrap analysis confirmed the robustness and reliability of the symptom networks, supporting disease-specific symptom prioritization for targeted management strategies.