FIRST LINE TREATMENT WITH OMEPRAZOLE PROVIDES AN EFFECTIVE AND SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DYSPEPSIA COMPARED TO ANTACID ALGINATE LIQUID - A MULTICENTER STUDY IN GENERAL-PRACTICE/

Background: Many patients who present with dyspepsia are prescribed an tacid/alginates as their first line and often mainstay therapy, This m ulticentre study was designed to assess whether early introduction of acid inhibition is an effective strategy in dyspepsia management. Meth ods: Dyspeptic patients (n = 674) were randomized to receive either om eprazole 10 mg o.m. or antacid/alginate liquid 10 mL q.d.s. for 4 week s in an open, parallel group study, Results: Complete relief of the mo st common symptom at entry, heartburn, was greater in the omeprazole-t reated group compared with the antacid/alginate-treated group (64 vs. 30%, respectively, at 4 weeks; P < 0.0001), The percentage of patients who met the stringent health target of complete relief of overall sym ptoms was higher in the omeprazole-treated group (41% at 4 weeks) comp ared with the antacid/alginate group (16% at 4 weeks; P < 0.0001), Com parisons of quality of life scores between treatments favoured the ome prazole group at 2 and 4 weeks for both the Psychological General Well -Being Index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (each P les s than or equal to 0.0009). In addition, a greater proportion of patie nts rated omeprazole to be more effective in symptom relief and more c onvenient to use (each P = 0.0001) than antacid/alginate. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that, compared to antacid/alginate liquid 10 m L q.d.s., omeprazole 10 mg o.m. is more effective in the management of dyspepsia symptoms and is the patients' preferred treatment.