Abdominal Symptoms in General Practice, a Case Control Study

A survey was carried out of three hundred general practice patients who were questioned about recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort and other related symptoms. Patients who responded positively to the questionnaire fell into three main groups. Twenty two patients (7%) were found to have previously diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome. A further twenty patients (7%) had similar symptoms but had not sought medical help for them. Finally there were twenty eight (9%) patients with abdominal pain due to miscellaneous organic diseases. Age-sex matched controls were selected from the two hundred and thirty patients who responded negatively to assess the rate of consultation and the rate of prescribing benzodiazepines and antidepressants.