Comparison of gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological factors of functional dyspepsia to peptic ulcer or panic disorder patients

Abstract.

Symptoms of functional dyspepsia (FD) may look like those of peptic ulcers or panic disorders. But, there is no comparative data between the symptoms of peptic ulcers or panic disorders.

Methods:

To evaluate general symptoms, we used the previously validated questionnaires: 1. the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS), 2. the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), 3. the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and 4. the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Ninety-six patients with FD (ulcer-like, dysmotility-like, and nonspecific: 28.1 %, 41.7 %, and 30.2 %) diagnosed according to the Rome II criteria, 24 peptic ulcer patients, 21 panic disorders, and 50 healthy controls were enrolled in this study.

Results:

Total GSRS score of FD was higher than controls (12.8 ± 1.2 vs. 5.9 ± 0.7), and similar to peptic ulcers. Ratio over than a cut-off SDS score of FD was higher than controls (28 % vs. 11 %), although it was lower than panic disorders (65 %). Ratios over than cut-off scores of state- and trait-anxiety of FD were higher than controls (74 % and 62 % vs. 50 % and 36 %) and tended to be higher than peptic ulcers. Positive ratio of state-anxiety scores of FD was similar to panic disorders. As these scores increased, morbidity rate of FD (FD/FD+control) increased (P for trend <0.01). Among CISS scores, task-oriented coping scores of FD tended to be low compared to controls, but emotion-oriented coping scores of FD and controls were significantly lower than panic disorders.

Conclusion:

Severity of gastrointestinal symptoms but not anxiety of FD was similar to peptic ulcers. Psychological scales of FD were also similar to panic disorders except for the emotion–oriented coping. These findings suggested that the complicated pathogenesis of FD was similar to but not completely consistent with peptic ulcers or panic disorders.