Randomised clinical trial: the burden of illness of uninvestigated dyspepsia before and after treatment with esomeprazole--results from the STARS II study.

Background: Patients with dyspepsia often experience troublesome symptoms.

Aim: To assess the burden of uninvestigated dyspepsia (symptoms, health-related quality of life [HRQL] and work productivity) before and after 8 weeks' esomeprazole treatment.

Methods: Patients (n=1250) with uninvestigated dyspepsia (no endoscopy within 6 months and ≤ 2 endoscopies within 10 years) underwent a 1-week esomeprazole acid-suppression test before randomisation to 7 weeks' esomeprazole or placebo.

Functional dyspepsia impairs quality of life in the adult population.

Background: Data on the impact of functional dyspepsia on health-related quality of life in the general adult population are scarce.

Aim:   To explore the impact of functional dyspepsia applying the Rome III definition on health-related quality of life in the general population.

Method: A random sample of an adult Swedish population (n=1001, The Kalixanda study) was invited to undergo an oesophagogastroduodenoscopy.

Use of tobacco products and gastrointestinal morbidity: an endoscopic population-based study (the Kalixanda study).

The impact of snus (smokeless tobacco or snuff) on gastrointestinal symptoms and pathological findings is largely unknown. The authors aimed to investigate whether the exposure to different forms of tobacco influences upper gastrointestinal symptoms, histology and frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection. A random sample (n = 2,860) of the adult population of two northern Swedish municipalities Kalix and Haparanda (n = 21,610) was surveyed between December 1998 and June 2001 using a validated postal questionnaire assessing gastrointestinal symptoms (response rate 74.

Cost of detecting malignant lesions by endoscopy in 2741 primary care dyspeptic patients without alarm symptoms.

Background & Aims: Current guidelines recommend empirical, noninvasive approaches to manage dyspeptic patients without alarm symptoms, but concerns about missed lesions persist; the cost savings afforded by noninvasive approaches must be weighed against treatment delays. We investigated the prevalence of malignancies and other serious abnormalities in patients with dyspepsia and the cost of detecting these by endoscopy.

Methods: We studied 2741 primary-care outpatients, 18-70 years in age, who met Rome II criteria for dyspepsia.

Anxiety is associated with uninvestigated and functional dyspepsia (Rome III criteria) in a Swedish population-based study.

Background & Aims: The Rome III criteria for functional dyspepsia have been changed to include 2 distinct syndromes: postprandial distress syndrome and epigastric pain syndrome. We investigated risk factors for functional dyspepsia among the functional dyspepsia subgroups defined by the Rome III criteria.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional population-based study in a primary care setting (the Kalixanda study).