Social and Emotional Fears and Worries Influencing the Quality of Life of Female Celiac Disease Patients Following a Gluten-Free Diet

Abstract

The gluten-free diet is effective in the majority of celiac disease (CD) patients, but it is burdensome and may influence quality of life (QoL). The aim of the study was to analyze the social and emotional fears and worries influencing the QoL of female CD patients following a gluten-free (GF) diet, as well as to indicate the sociodemographic interfering factors. The study was conducted on a group of 251 female CD patients, while emotional, social and worries subscales of the Celiac Disease Questionnaire (CDQ) were applied, as well as purchase-related emotions and behaviors were assessed. Respondents declaring worse economic status obtained significantly lower scores in the emotional, social and worries subscales of the CDQ than respondents declaring better economic status, while for other factors (CD duration, GFD adherence, BMI, place of residence and educational level) no significant association was stated in the multi-factor analysis. Moreover, respondents declaring worse economic status more often declared that a bad mood affected their purchase decisions than did respondents declaring better economic status. It was stated, that the economic status of CD patient could be one of the most important factors influencing their social and emotional fears and worries. It may be supposed that low economic status may lead some CD patients to choose to relieve stress by purchasing GF products instead of other products.

Keywords

• celiac disease (CD)
• quality of life (QoL)
• gluten-free diet
• disease duration
• place of residence
• educational level
• economic status
• body mass index (BMI)