Validation study of the Rome III criteria for functional GI disorders

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A Study to Validate and Test the Durability of the Rome III criteria for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Among Patients Referred to Secondary Care.

• IRAS ID

  130946

• Contact name

  Alexander C Ford

• Contact email

  alex.ford@leedsth.nhs.uk

• Research summary

  Symptoms related to the intestines whose cause is unknown, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and functional dyspepsia are common. These conditions are called functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Doctors are encouraged to make a diagnosis of a functional GI disorder based on groups of symptoms that a person may report. The symptom groups that are most widely-used by doctors are called the Rome III criteria, but they have not been tested to see whether they can predict a correct diagnosis of a functional GI disorder. In addition, although doctors are encouraged to use these criteria to diagnose a functional GI disorder, and avoid over-investigation, sometimes people with other conditions, which may be easier to treat, complain of symptoms that are mistaken for a functional GI disorder. This may delay the true cause of the person’s symptoms being discovered.
  The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of how accurate the Rome III criteria are for diagnosing a functional GI disorder. We also want to see how many people with symptoms that are felt to be due to a functional GI disorder when they first come to see a Gastroenterology doctor end up being found to have another cause for their symptoms later on. We will use a questionnaire to collect information from people coming to Gastroenterology clinics and endoscopy lists in Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, and ask individuals for permission to contact them with further questionnaires, and access their medical records to see whether another cause for their symptoms was discovered in the future.

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  13/YH/0216

• Date of REC Opinion

  8 Jul 2013

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion