Knowles Simon R, Dickinson Matthew
Department of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2024 Dec 28;33(4):488-495. doi: 10.15403/jgld-5759.
Despite reports of brain fog in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), empirical research into this phenomenon has been lacking. This study aimed to validate a brain fog scale and explore the relationships between IBD symptom activity, brain fog, fatigue, psychological distress, and quality of life (QoL).
A cross-sectional online study.
Of the 170 adults with IBD (mean age 38.75 years, 85.9% female, 62.35% Crohn's disease), 94.10% percent reported experiencing brain fog, with the majority (53.75%) experiencing brain fog at least 2 times a week, with each episode lasting around 2 hours. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the first hypothesis, demonstrating validity and stability of the brain fog scale in an IBD sample. Correlation analyses supported the second hypothesis, revealing positive relationships between IBD symptom activity and brain fog, fatigue and psychological distress, and a negative relationship between IBD symptom activity and QoL. A structural equation model with excellent fit (CMIN/df=1.84, p=0.137, TLI=0.98, CFI=0.99, SRMR=0.03, and RMSEA=0.07), provided support for the third hypothesis in that the relationship between IBD symptom activity and QoL was fully mediated by brain fog, fatigue, and psychological distress.
This is the first study to explore the lived experience of brain fog and to validate the brain fog scale in an IBD sample. The study provides evidence that like fatigue, brain fog is not only common in IBD cohorts but is also frequent and adversely impacts psychological distress and QoL.
尽管有报道称炎症性肠病（IBD）患者存在脑雾现象，但对此现象的实证研究一直缺乏。本研究旨在验证脑雾量表，并探讨IBD症状活动、脑雾、疲劳、心理困扰和生活质量（QoL）之间的关系。
一项横断面在线研究。
在170名IBD成年患者中（平均年龄38.75岁，85.9%为女性，62.35%为克罗恩病），94.10%的患者报告有脑雾症状，其中大多数（53.75%）每周至少经历2次脑雾，每次发作持续约2小时。验证性因素分析支持了第一个假设，证明了脑雾量表在IBD样本中的有效性和稳定性。相关性分析支持了第二个假设，揭示了IBD症状活动与脑雾、疲劳和心理困扰之间存在正相关，而IBD症状活动与QoL之间存在负相关。一个拟合优度极佳的结构方程模型（CMIN/df = 1.84，p = 0.137，TLI = 0.98，CFI = 0.99，SRMR = 0.03，RMSEA = 0.07）支持了第三个假设，即IBD症状活动与QoL之间的关系完全由脑雾、疲劳和心理困扰介导。
这是第一项探索脑雾实际体验并在IBD样本中验证脑雾量表的研究。该研究提供了证据表明，与疲劳一样，脑雾不仅在IBD患者群体中常见，而且频繁出现并对心理困扰和QoL产生不利影响。
