Development of the Rome V Diagnostic Questionnaires

Abstract

This article describes the development of the Rome V adult and pediatric diagnostic questionnaires. Important updates from the Rome IV versions included improved response scaling, new questions to diagnose 3 additional adult disorders of gut–brain interaction (DGBI) and 14 additional pediatric DGBI (compared with the Rome IV questionnaires), extra questions to clarify the context of DGBI symptoms for research purposes, and the addition of anatomical images to enhance response accuracy. The performance of the Rome V adult questionnaire was tested in internet surveys in 15 countries and the pediatric questionnaires in 4 countries. The results indicate that the new questionnaires generally identify DGBI to a similar degree and with the same demographic patterns as the prior Rome IV versions. The Rome V Questionnaire Committee concluded that these new diagnostic questionnaire versions are well suited for epidemiologic and clinical research of DGBI in the Rome V era for both adult and pediatric populations.