Self-reported Non-celiac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS) in Patients Undergoing Digestive Endoscopy

Self-reported food hypersensitivity is common, particularly in women, with a reported prevalence of about 20% in the UK community. A wide range of gastrointestinal and systemic symptoms may be experienced related to consumption of the intolerant food(s). In addition, patients demonstrate considerably more generalized subjective health complaints in comparison with healthy controls. In this context, it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named non-celiac gluten sensitivity\' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the term \'non-celiac wheat sensitivity\' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. In a previous study, the investigators demonstrated, in a population of teenagers, a frequency of self-reported NCWS of about 12%; the frequency of GFD use was 2.9%, which was much higher than the percentage of known CD in the same population (1.26%). The aims of this study were 1) to determine the prevalence of self-perceived wheat and/or gluten-sensitivity in patients undergoing digestive endoscopy, irrespective to the motivations of the test, and 2) to evaluate the demographic and clinical differences between patients self-reporting wheat and/or gluten sensitivity and patients not reporting food hypersensitivity.