title: Association of upper gastrointestinal symptoms with functional and clinical charateristics in elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms and their association with clinical and functional characteristics in elderly outpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 3238 outpatients ≥ 60 years consecutively enrolled by 107 general practitioners. Information on social, behavioral and demographic characteristics, function in the activities of daily living (ADL), co-morbidities and drug use were collected by a structured interview. Upper gastrointestinal symptom data were collected by the 15-items upper gastro-intestinal symptom questionnaire for the elderly, a validated diagnostic tool which includes the following five symptom clusters: (1) abdominal pain syndrome; (2) reflux syndrome; (3) indigestion syndrome; (4) bleeding; and (5) non-specific symptoms. Presence and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms were analyzed through a logistic regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  3100 subjects were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms was 43.0%, i.e. cluster (1) 13.9%, (2) 21.9%, (3) 30.2%, (4) 1.2%, and (5) 4.5%. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequently reported by females (P < 0.0001), with high number of co-morbidities (P < 0.0001), who were taking higher number of drugs (P < 0.0001) and needed assistance in the ADL. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that female sex (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.17-1.64), disability in the ADL (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.12-1.93), smoking habit (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.00-1.65), and body mass index (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08), as well as the presence of upper (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.52-3.60) and lower gastroenterological diseases (OR = 2.25, 95%CI: 1.70-2.97), psychiatric (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.28-2.01) and respiratory diseases (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01-1.54) were significantly associated with the presence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Functional and clinical characteristics are associated with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. A multidimensional comprehensive evaluation may be useful when approaching upper gastrointestinal symptoms in older subjects.
authors.affiliation: Geriatrics Unit, Azienda ULSS 16 Padova, S. Antonio Hospital, Padova I-35127, Italy. alberto.pilotto@sanita.padova.it
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pilotto
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noale
authors.forename: Marilisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Crepaldi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D041742:Upper Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*