Table 4.
Mean ± SD scores for Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey scales within groups and between groups at the end of the study (Mann–Whitney U test was used for testing each two groups. No significant differences were observed between each two groups).
| Group A | Group B | Group C | p-value† | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-gluten (n = 7) | Mid-gluten (n = 9) | High-gluten (n = 9) | GFD (n = 15) | Unrestricted (n = 10) | |||||||||||
| Baseline | End | p-value* | Baseline | End | p-value* | Baseline | End | p-value* | Baseline | End | p-value* | Baseline | End | p-value* | |
| Physical functioning | |||||||||||||||
| 26.6 ± 4.7 | 28.7 ± 2 | 0.04 | 22.6 ± 1.9 | 25.2 ± 1.8 | 0.02 | 23.7 ± 4.7 | 25.9 ± 3.9 | 0.03 | 26.2 ± 3.5 | 27.6 ± 2.8 | 0.02 | 27.4 ± 2.6 | 26.1 ± 3.7 | 0.50 | 0.053 |
| Role limitation due to physical health | |||||||||||||||
| 6.3 ± 1.5 | 7 ± 1.2 | 0.06 | 5.9 ± .9 | 6 ± 1 | 0.56 | 6 ± 1.6 | 6.1 ± 1.5 | 0.66 | 5.9 ± 1.5 | 6.5 ± 1.5 | 0.02 | 6.9 ± 1.5 | 6.1 ± 2 | 0.06 | 0.59 |
| Role limitation due to emotional problems | |||||||||||||||
| 4.1 ± 1.2 | 5.1 ± 1.1 | 0.17 | 4.7 ± 1.4 | 5.1 ± 1.3 | 0.36 | 4.6 ± 1.3 | 4.9 ± 1.2 | 0.18 | 4.5 ± 1.5 | 4.9 ± 1.4 | 0.06 | 4.4 ± 1.3 | 4 ± 1.3 | 0.10 | 0.39 |
| Energy/fatigue | |||||||||||||||
| 14.4 ± 2.5 | 14.7 ± 2.4 | 0.34 | 16.8 ± 3.4 | 16.1 ± 3.5 | 0.55 | 14.8 ± 1.1 | 14.3 ± 1 | 0.21 | 14.9 ± 1.8 | 13.8 ± 1.5 | 0.01 | 14.8 ± 2.4 | 13.6 ± 1.7 | 0.25 | 0.15 |
| Emotional well-being | |||||||||||||||
| 22.7 ± 1.6 | 21.6 ± 2.5 | 0.46 | 22.2 ± 2 | 21.8 ± 1.9 | 0.38 | 19.6 ± 3 | 20.3 ± 2.1 | 0.27 | 20.7 ± 2.5 | 21.2 ± 1.9 | 0.29 | 19.6 ± 3.1 | 19.4 ± 3.5 | 0.83 | 0.31 |
| Social functioning | |||||||||||||||
| 5.6 ± 1.1 | 5.7 ± 1.7 | 0.71 | 5.9 ± 2.4 | 5.11 ± 1.364 | 0.13 | 6.6 ± 1.2 | 5.7 ± 0.7 | 0.054 | 5.9 ± 1.5 | 5.8 ± 1.3 | 0.72 | 6.7 ± 1.4 | 6.1 ± 2 | 0.32 | 0.56 |
| Bodily pain | |||||||||||||||
| 4.6 ± 2.3 | 3.7 ± 1 | 0.34 | 5.4 ± 2.6 | 4.00 ± 1.118 | 0.26 | 5.2 ± 1.7 | 4.4 ± 1.5 | 0.08 | 6.6 ± 1.9 | 4.7 ± 2.3 | 0.002 | 5.9 ± 1.8 | 3.3 ± 1 | 0.02 | 0.56 |
| General health | |||||||||||||||
| 17.1 ± 2.3 | 16.1 ± 2.6 | 0.07 | 19.7 ± 2 | 18.00 ± 2.693 | 0.058 | 17.9 ± 2.7 | 17.8 ± 2.5 | 0.71 | 16.9 ± 2.7 | 16.2 ± 1.9 | 0.31 | 16.7 ± 2.1 | 15.6 ± 2.6 | 0.34 | 0.23 |
*p-value for comparison within each group using the Wilcoxon-signed rank test.
†p-value for between-groups comparison using the Kruskal–Wallis test.
Higher scores in the SF-36 indicate better health. Differences across groups A, B and C were analyzed with a linear mixed model and p-values are given for the main effect of gluten challenge. SD standard deviation.