Measurement of the impact of heartburn and dyspepsia on quality of life

Abstract

The interest in heartburn in endoscopy-negative patients and in functional dyspepsia has increased in recent years. This necessitates new methods of disease evaluation due to the lack of objective markers. In this paper basic data are presented from the application of two widely used quality of life questionnaires - the Psychological General Well-Being Index and the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale - in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms without treatment and in healthy controls. From the reference population, it can be concluded that gender, as well as age, influences the outcome of both indices. In patients with untreated reflux oesophagitis, peptic ulcer or dyspepsia quality of life was low. The severity of symptoms also correlated well with both the Psychological General Well-Being Index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale scores in patients with heartburn. In patients with upper gastrointestinal complaints, an evaluation of quality of life is helpful in patient evaluation, particularly in the absence of objective clinical markers of disease.