High prevalence of functional dyspepsia in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study

Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are frequent complaints from individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Dyspepsia is a universal clinical symptom and is among the most common GI complaints observed in the general population, but its prevalence in the population with NAFLD has not been previously investigated.

To compare the prevalence of functional dyspepsia (FD) between patients with NAFLD and controls without liver disease.

Cross-sectional study at the Outpatient Liver Clinic, University Hospital, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

We included 96 NAFLD patients and 105 controls without liver disease. All participants were assessed for GI symptoms in accordance with the Rome III criteria. Evaluation methods included a questionnaire for FD (validated in Brazil), laboratory tests and upper GI endoscopy.

Mean age and sex were similar between the groups. The NAFLD group presented higher frequency of proton-pump inhibitor usage (31.3% vs 4.8%; P < 0.001) and prevalence of FD (25.0% versus 12.4%; P = 0.021). The symptom frequencies were as follows: postprandial distress, 22.9% versus 11.4% (P = 0.030); postprandial fullness, 18.8% versus 10.5% (P = 0.095); early satiation, 8.3% versus 5.7% (P = 0.466); and epigastric pain or burning, 18.8% versus 5.7% (P = 0.004), in NAFLD patients and controls, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that female sex (odds ratio, OR 6.97; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.51-32.12; P = 0.013) and NAFLD diagnosis (OR 2.45; 95% CI: 1.14-5.27; P = 0.021) were independently associated with FD occurrence.

FD occurs more frequently in individuals with NAFLD than in controls without hepatic disease.