Social implications of celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity

Abstract

Research has described the perceived social restrictions that people who suffer from celiac disease can experience, but never investigated their actual amount of social contacts as compared to a healthy population. Therefore, we focus on the question whether people who suffer from celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity have less informal social capital (e.g. contacts with friends and family) than a healthy population and, if so, which health related factors can explain these differences in social capital. With the aid of the Dutch Celiac Association, we recently gathered high quality data. Results show that people who are diagnosed with celiac disease or NCGS indeed have less informal social capital than a healthy control group. This can be explained partly because the former more often suffer from depression, poor subjective health and another chronic condition. Moreover, it appears that demographic factors, such as gender, age, having children and marital status, reduce the initial relationship completely. These demographic factors thus play a more important role. As yet, these findings may help healthcare professionals to interpret social consequences of celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity in a broader sense.