DEVELOPING A CONDITION-SPECIFIC MEASURE OF HEALTH FOR PATIENTS WITH DYSPEPSIA AND ULCER-RELATED SYMPTOMS

A patient-administered instrument for dyspepsia and symptoms suggestiv e of duodenal or gastric ulcer, based on the type of questions asked w hen taking a patient's history, was developed and tested using the fol lowing steps: literature reviews, devising the questions, testing the responses to the questions using factor analysis and internal consiste ncy, assessing test-retest reliability, and validating the questionnai re by comparing patient responses to the SF-36 health survey questionn aire. The main sample consisted of 135 patients referred to an outpati ent clinic with dyspepsia, and 152 patients in general practice who we re not referred to a specialist. The final instrument produced a Cronb ach's alpha of 0.72 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.69. Patient scores on the dyspepsia questionnaire had small to moderate c orrelations with the SF-36 health survey, the largest correlation bein g with the SF-36 scale of pain. Patient scores were significantly rela ted to general practitioner perceptions of symptom severity, family hi story of gastric ulcer disease, and whether the patient was referred. The questions asked in taking a clinical history from a patient with d yspepsia and other symptoms suggestive of ulcer disease can be used to construct a valid and reliable measure of the effect of dyspepsia on health.