Self-Reported Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity in High School Students: Demographic and Clinical Characteristics

• Published in: Nutrients 2017-07, Vol.9 (7), p.771
• Main Authors: Carroccio, Antonio, Giambalvo, Ornella, Blasca, Francesco La, Iacobucci, Rosario, D'Alcamo, Alberto, Mansueto, Pasquale
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Autoimmune diseases; Case-Control Studies; Celiac disease; Celiac Disease - diagnosis; Celiac Disease - diet therapy; Demographics; Diet, Gluten-Free; epidemiology; Female; Food allergies; food allergy; Gluten; Glutens - administration & dosage; Humans; IBS; Male; non-celiac gluten-sensitivity; prevalence; Schools; Secondary school students; Self Report; self-reported non-celiac wheat sensitivity; Sensitivity; Serological tests; Sicily; Students; teenagers; Triticum - chemistry; Wheat; Wheat Hypersensitivity - diagnosis; Wheat Hypersensitivity - diet therapy; Young adults
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu9070771

Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS) has recently been included among the gluten-related disorders. As no biomarkers of this disease exist, its frequency has been estimated based on self-reported symptoms, but to date no data are available about self-reported NCWS in teenagers. To explore the prevalence of self-reported NCWS in a group of high school students and to study their demographic and clinical characteristics. The study was performed between April 2015 and January 2016 in two high schools of a coastal town in the south of Sicily (Italy). A total of 555 students (mean age 17 years, 191 male, 364 female) completed a modified validated questionnaire for self-reported NCWS. The subjects who self-reported NCWS were then compared with all the others. Seven individuals (1.26%) had an established diagnosis of CD. The prevalence of self-reported NCWS was 12.2%, and 2.9% were following a gluten-free diet (GFD). Only 15 out of 68 (23%) NCWS self-reporters had consulted a doctor for this problem and only nine (14%) had undergone serological tests for celiac disease. The NCWS self-reporters very often had IBS symptoms (44%). Self-reported NCWS was found to be common in teenagers, with a frequency of 12.2%; the frequency of GFD use was 2.9%, which was much higher than the percentage of known CD in the same population (1.26%). A greater awareness of the possible implications on the part of the subjects involved, and a more thorough medical approach to the study of self-reported wheat-induced symptoms are required.