Health-related quality of life of patients with gastrointestinal symptoms

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the variation in health-related quality of life among patients with different presentations of gastrointestinal symptoms. AIM: To study the association between health-related quality of life and presentations of gastrointestinal symptoms. METHODS: Health-related quality of life and demographic information was obtained from 873 patients referred to the hospital for endoscopy, using a questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 436 patients (50%) reported predominantly upper gastrointestinal symptoms, 344 (39%) predominantly lower symptoms, and 93 (11%) patients reported both upper and lower symptoms. Patients with mild, moderate and severe symptoms, reported mean scores on a 100-point visual analogue scale (95% CI) of 90 (79-100), 75 (64-86) and 64 (53-76), respectively (P < 0.001). Mean visual analogue scale scores (95% CI) almost linearly declined from 81 (77-85) to 49 (46-52) for those with one to those with more than eight symptoms. Patients who reported upper gastrointestinal symptoms and in particular epigastric pain, bloating and vomiting had significantly impaired health status in comparison to patients without these symptoms (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Severity of gastrointestinal symptoms is the most important factor in affecting health status, followed by the numbers and type of gastrointestinal symptoms.