Dietary Compliance and Quality of Life in Celiac Disease: A Long-Term Follow-Up of Primary School Screening-Detected Patients

• Published in: Frontiers in pediatrics 2021-12, Vol.9, p.787938-787938
• Main Authors: Iorfida, Donatella, Valitutti, Francesco, Vestri, Annarita, Di Rocco, Arianna, Cucchiara, Salvatore, Lubrano, Riccardo, Montuori, Monica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: case finding; dietary compliance; follow up; gluten free diet (GFD); Pediatrics; quality of life; screening
• ISSN: 2296-2360; 2296-2360
• DOI: 10.3389/fped.2021.787938

Whether the diagnostic approach for celiac disease (CD) can really affect quality of life (QoL) and dietary compliance remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate QoL and compliance to gluten-free diet (GFD) in adolescents/young adults diagnosed with CD through a screening strategy during childhood compared to age-matched CD patients diagnosed by case-finding and to assess whether follow-up at a referral center for CD influences compliance and QoL. Thirty-seven CD patients who were diagnosed by screening programs (SC-group) and 38 age-matched CD patients diagnosed due to symptoms (CF-group) were enrolled. Patients were asked to answer a questionnaire on QoL, dietary compliance, and follow-up care for CD. Twenty-nine patients of the SC-group (median age 18.0 years, interquartile range [IQR] 16.0-19.0) and 31 patients of the CF-group (median age 17.0 years, IQR 15.5-18.0) completed the questionnaire. No significant difference relating adherence to the GFD and QoL was shown between the two groups. The majority (93.5%) of CF-group regularly had annual follow-up at a referral center compared to 37.9% of the SC-group ( < 0.001). The diagnostic strategy does not seem to impact QoL and dietary compliance. However, implementation of follow-up might still be necessary for patients identified through screening.