Impaired Quality of Life in Patients with Autoimmune Atrophic Gastritis

Background Autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AAG) leads to vitamin B12 deficiency that may manifest with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as emotional instability, cognitive deficits, depression, and personality changes. Aims To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in patients with AAG and the interplay between QoL, psychopathological symptoms, and demographic factors. Methods This is an observational, cross-sectional study including 102 patients with AAG (mean age 62 ± 13 years), 100 with functional gastrointestinal disorders (mean age 38.3 ± 17 years), 100 with other chronic organic gastrointestinal diseases (mean age 50.9 ± 21.4 years), and 100 healthy controls (mean age 37.5 ± 18.9 years). The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 were administered. The results of the scales were compared among the study groups. Linear regression analyses were fitted to identify independent predictors of QoL in AAG patients. Results QoL was significantly different among the four groups in all subdomains. In particular, the AAG group was significantly ( P