ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1631207
Exploring the multidimensional symptom experience in patie nts with inflammatory bowel disease: a contemporaneous net work analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- 2Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
- 3Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, shanghai, China
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Aim: To explore and visualize the relationships among multiple symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and present empirical proof for establishing individualized and exact symptom management tactics.Design: This is a quantitative research study conducted between May 2024 and March 2025 using a correlational research scale.Methods: 324 individuals diagnosed with IBD and hospitalized in Shanghai completed the symptom cluster scale for inflammatory bowel disease(SCS-IBD). We conducted multiple linear regression analysis to investigate factors related to the severity of overall IBD symptoms. After accounting for covariates, contemporaneous networks were constructed using all 18 symptoms.Results: It was determined that active IBD, years since IBD diagnosis, or those who have not received medication and surgery tend to have more severe IBD symptoms. Although fatigue was the most frequent (74.07%) and severe symptom (2.37 ± 1.161) in IBD, the strength centrality of fatigue was lower than that of weight loss and diarrhea. Weight loss ( rs = 4.414, rscov = 5.202 ) and diarrhea ( rs = 4.489, rscov =5.109 ) are the core symptoms based on exhibiting the highest strength centrality values in both networks, regardless of whether covariates are included or not.Conclusions: Our findings identified that IBD experienced a heavy symptom burden of a severe nature, with weight loss and diarrhea being core symptoms, regardless of covariate adjustment. Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care: Healthcare professionals should prioritize managing IBD's core symptoms-weight loss and diarrhea via tailored dietary and medication strategies, disrupting symptom interactions to improve patients' quality of life and recovery.Impact: This network analysis highlights these core symptoms, informing precision nursing approaches that optimize symptom control through network-driven interventions. Reporting Method: This study followed the applicable Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelinesPatient or Public Involvement: All participants were from the gastroenterology department of a single hospital.
Keywords: inflammatory bowel disease, Network analysis, Symptom Management, Symptom network, symptom network analysis
Received: 19 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 邸, Chen, Zhu, Wang, Zhang and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yamei Chen, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Xiaoping Zhu, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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