WELL-BEING AND GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS AMONG PATIENTS REFERRED TO ENDOSCOPY OWING TO SUSPECTED DUODENAL-ULCER

Background: Few studies have evaluated quality of life (QoL) in patien ts with upper gastrointestinal diseases, and there is a lack of valida ted measures for use in gastroenterology. Methods: The applicability a nd relevance of self-administered questionnaires such as the Psycholog ical General Well-Being (PGWB) index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) for QoL in patients with upper gastrointestinal sy mptoms referred to endoscopy because of suspected duodenal ulcer were evaluated. Results: In total, 1526 patients with suspected duodenal ul cer were screened for inclusion in a clinical study. On the basis of m edical history and endoscopy, 1424 patients,who completed the question naire before endoscopy were classified in five diagnostic groups: oeso phagitis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, negative endoscopy, and gastr itis duodenitis. Irrespective of diagnosis, all patient groups reporte d a considerable decrease in their general well-being (mean score, 85, compared with 105 in healthy populations) with no significant differe nces between the groups. The results of the GSRS, however, showed stat istically significant differences between the groups in dimensions dep icting Abdominal pain, Reflux, Indigestion, and Diarrhoea Syndrome. Co nclusions: The results of the study showed that, irrespective of endos copic findings, patients complaining of upper gastrointestinal symptom s have a low degree of general well-being. The symptom profiles in the different diagnostic groups vary considerably.