The psychopathology of duodenal ulcer compared with functional dyspepsia: a case-control study

This is a prospective study of the psychiatric morbidity in 80 patients with duodenal ulcer, 80 with functional dyspepsia and 80 healthy controls; matched for age, sex and marital status. A semi structured psychiatric interview and clinical mental state examination were used in the psychiatric assessment of the patients and controls. Psychiatric diagnoses were made according to DSM3-R. A modified version of Life Events Scale by Tennant and Andrews was used in the assessment of life events in relation to psychiatric illness. Psychiatric illness was significantly more in the patients than the controls. Anxiety and depressive disorders dominated the clinical picture and the symptoms were usually of mild nature. Other neurotic were rare and psychotic illness was absent. Though more psychiatric patients experienced life events than the controls, differences, however were not statistically significant. Further studies are needed, especially in relation to the causative association between the functional dyspepsia and psychiatric disturbances.