PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS IN NON - ULCER DYSPEPSIA

Systematic studies of psychiatric disorders in non -ulcer dyspepsia are rare. The aim of the present study was to find out the nature and prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in non-ulcer dyspepsia. Thirty three patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia and thirty with duodenal ulcer were assessed for psychiatric morbidity with the help of the regular version of the SADS, and diagnosed according to DSM-IIIR criteria. Non-ulcer dyspepsia was defined precisely and investigators who made the psychiatric diagnosis were blind to the gastroenterological diagnosis. In the non-ulcer dyspepsia group, 69.7% of patients had psychiatric morbidity, compared to 26.7% in the ulcer group. The difference between the two groups in the frequency of psychiatric morbidity was statistically significant. Dysthymic disorder (39.4%) was the most frequent psychiatric disorder in the non-ulcer dyspepsia group.