[The psychological characteristics of dyspepsia. A controlled study with gastroscopic follow-up]

It's known that some psychologic factors could be implicated in dyspepsia. Therefore, the psychologic aspects of 38 dyspeptic patients (17 males, 21 females, aged 18-65 years), who underwent digestive endoscopy, were evaluated by means of Rorschach and MMPI test. Patients with previous peptic ulcer history, with chronic ethanol or NSAID intake, operated on digestive tract and patients with behavioural problems were excluded. The results of psychological tests enhanced two main groups: anxiety patterns (17 patients--49%) and normal patterns (21 patients--55%). Endoscopic and histological findings moreover showed: "anxious" group--12 patients with chronic gastritis (HP+ 50%), 5 patients with normal endoscopy; "normal" group--16 patients with chronic gastritis (HP+ 87.5%), 5 patients with normal endoscopy. This study suggests that in about 50% of dyspeptic patients anxious pattern is present. Moreover chronic gastritis is more frequently associated to Helicobacter pylori in non-anxious patients.