Diagnosis of dyspepsia from data collected by a physician's assistant

This paper presents a study of the diagnosis of "dyspepsia" in 154 patients based on data collected at their initial outpatient attendance via an interview with a non-medically qualified physician's assistant. The reactions of patients to this type of interview were favourable, and the data recorded were as reliable as those recorded by clinicians. We conclude (1) that the data recorded by the physician's assistant are valuable diagnostically; (2) where these cannot be collected by a qualified physician, this task may be delegated to a non-medically qualified person; but (3) this interview should augment and not replace the traditional clinical interview.