Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026
The Dyspepsia Educational Tool As a Novel Aid in Dyspepsia Management
Published on: June 29, 2019
A randomized controlled trial of psychotherapy in patients with chronic functional dyspepsia
J Hamilton1, E Guthrie, F Creed
1School of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, England.
Background & Aims:
This study aimed to determine whether brief psychodynamic-interpersonal (PI) psychotherapy is more efficacious than a psychological control for patients with chronic, intractable functional dyspepsia (FD), and whether patients with abnormal gastric function respond differently than those with normal gastric function.
Methods:
Ninety-five consecutive patients with chronic symptoms of FD who had failed to respond to conventional pharmacologic treatments were approached. Thirty-seven received PI psychotherapy, and 36 the control condition (supportive therapy). Patients completed self-report questionnaires before and after treatment and 12 months later. The patients' gastroenterologists, who were blind to the study groups, conducted independent ratings before and after treatment. Forty-nine patients also underwent a radioisotope gastric emptying study. An intention-to-treat analysis was used with baseline scores as covariates.
Results:
At the end of treatment, there were significant advantages for PI psychotherapy compared with controls for the gastroenterologists' (P = 0.002) and patients' total symptom score (P = 0.015). One year after treatment, the symptomatic scores were similar. However, a subanalysis showed that PI therapy was superior to the control condition at 1 year, when patients with severe heartburn were excluded. There was no difference in outcome between patients with normal and abnormal gastric emptying.
Conclusions:
PI therapy may have both short- and long-term effects in patients with dyspepsia, but further evaluation is required. Its cost-effectiveness needs to be determined.
