Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients with Suspected Duodenal Ulcer

Quality of Life was investigated in patients with suspected duodenal ulcer. In self-administrated questionnaires general well-being was evaluated with the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB). Patients were required to fill out the questionnaires before endoscopy. This was done by 1526 patients who, after endoscopy, were divided into five groups; esophagitis (192), gastric ulcer (109), duodenal ulcer (426), duodenitis/gastritis (296) and negative endoscopy (401). Another 70 patients were found to have other diagnoses. Endoscopy was not performed in 32 patients who filled out questionnaires. All five patient groups reported low general well-being with the PGWB index. No statistical significant differences could be seen between the different groups. This study shows that patients complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms have a low degree of general well-being. Among patients with symptoms suspected for duodenal ulcer other diagnoses were common.