Prevalence and health/social impacts of functional dyspepsia in Taiwan: a study based on the Rome criteria questionnaire survey assisted by endoscopic exclusion among a physical check-up population.
OBJECTIVE
Until now, the epidemiology of functional dyspepsia (FD) and its social impact on Asians have been rarely studied. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence, social impact, and health-seeking behaviors of FD in an apparently healthy Chinese population in Taiwan.


METHODS
Based on the questionnaire provided by the Rome II working team, a survey was administered to a Taiwanese population receiving paid physical check-up (n = 2865). Esophagoduodenoscopy was performed in each subject to exclude organic dyspepsia. Finally, diagnoses of functional gastrointestinal disorders were obtained by means of a computer-generated algorithm.


RESULTS
The FD prevalences were 23.8% and 11.8% according to the Rome I and -II criteria, respectively. Nearly 60% of Rome I-defined FD subjects and 18.9% of Rome II-defined FD subjects had overlapping irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Irrespective of any Rome definition, FD subjects had excessive physician visits, absenteeism, and sleep disturbances compared to dyspepsia-free controls (p < 0.01). Moreover, over half of the Rome II FD subjects were "consulters" showing excessive physician visits, absenteeism, and sleep disturbances than "non-consulters". The dysmotility-like subgroup (74.5%) comprised the majority of FD subjects and showed no differences to their ulcer-like counterparts in terms of major demographic data and social and health impacts.


CONCLUSIONS
FD is a common complaint in Taiwan and also bears an obvious social and medical burden to society. Over half of our FD subjects sought medical help, which may be due to the readily accessible medical care in Taiwan. The newly defined Rome II criteria diminish the chance of co-existence of FD and IBS. Further FD classification by the main symptoms appears of limited clinical usefulness.
Lu
Ching-Liang
CL
Division of Gastroenterology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Lang
Hui-Chu
HC
Chang
Full-Young
FY
Chen
Chih-Yen
CY
Luo
Jiing-Chyuan
JC
Wang
Sun-Sang
SS
Lee
Shou-Dong
SD
D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D012922:Social Change; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology