Efficacy of Slow Nutrient Drinking Test for Evaluating Postprandial Distress Symptom in Japanese Patients With...

Functional dyspepsia (FD), one of the functional gastrointestinal disorders, is highly prevalent. Impaired gastric accommodation is proposed as a pathophysiology of FD. In order to assess gastric accommodation, a slow nutrient drinking test was developed. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of this slow nutrient drinking test among patients with FD in Japan.

Asymptomatic/healthy participants (n = 26) and those with FD (n = 16), were enrolled. An infusion pump was used to deliver the liquid meal into cups. They were requested to score their meal-related and abdominal symptoms at 5-minute intervals, using a 100 mm visual analog scale. They were instructed to end the test when they felt unable to ingest more or until after 50 minutes.

The test ending time was significantly shorter in patients with FD than in healthy participants (22.3 ± 10.6 vs 45.0 ± 7.5 minutes, P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the optimal cutoff time for detecting patients with FD was 30 minutes. The severity of meal-related and abdominal symptoms between healthy participants and those with FD was continuously different. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the presence of symptoms of postprandial distress syndrome contributed to the short test ending time.

The 30-minute slow nutrient drinking test is a minimally invasive method of effectively evaluating symptoms of postprandial distress syndrome among patients with FD, in Japan.