Incidence and psychological-behavioral characteristics of refractory functional dyspepsia: A large, multi-center, prospective investigation from China

Table 1 General characteristics of the study subjects n (%)

Feature	RFD (n = 327)	NRFD (n = 1014)	Healthy volunteers (n = 100)	P value1	P value2
Gender				0.300	0.470
Male	127 (38.8)	427 (42.1)	45 (45.0)
Female	200 (61.2)	587 (57.9)	55 (55.0)
Age group				0.110	0.110
≤ 20 yr	8 (2.4)	39 (3.8)	2 (2.0)
21-30 yr	54 (16.5)	215 (21.2)	24 (24.0)
31-40 yr	84 (25.7)	289 (28.5)	28 (28.0)
41-50 yr	113 (34.6)	294 (29.0)	27 (27.0)
51-60 yr	52 (15.9)	130 (12.8)	17 (17.0)
> 60 yr	16 (4.9)	47 (4.6)	2 (2.0)
Age, yr	41.91 ± 11.30	39.60 ± 11.81	39.83 ± 12.42	0.001	0.780
Subtype
EPS	120 (36.7)	457 (45.1)	-	0.010	-
PDS	94 (28.7)	280 (27.6)	-	0.690	-
EPS + PDS	113 (34.6)	277 (27.3)	-	0.010	-
Duration of disease, (yr)	6.01 ± 2.87	3.76 ± 1.83	-	0.002	-
Severity of disease
Mild	101 (30.9)	459 (45.3)	-	0.001	-
Moderate	148 (45.3)	407 (40.1)	-	0.100	-
Severe	78 (23.9)	148 (14.6)	-	0.003	-

¹Comparison between RFD and NRFD patients;

²Comparison between all functional dyspepsia patients (RFD and NRFD combined) and healthy volunteers. Continuous data were compared across groups using one-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls test for multiple comparisons. Count data were compared across groups using a χ² test. RFD: Refractory functional dyspepsia; NRFD: Non-refractory functional dyspepsia; EPS: Epigastric pain syndrome; PDS: Postprandial distress syndrome.

Table 2 Psychological and behavioral characteristics and quality of life of the study subjects n (%)

Characteristic	RFD	NRFD	Healthy volunteers (n = 100)	P value
	(n = 327)	(n = 1014)
Depression symptoms	207 (63.3)ac	212 (20.9)c	10 (10.0)	0.002
Mild	112 (34.3)ac	170 (16.8)	10 (10.0)	0.001
Moderate	61 (18.7)ac	34 (3.4)	0 (0)	0.001
Severe	34 (10.4)ac	8 (0.8)	0 (0)	0.004
HAMD score	11.65 ± 6.51ac	7.15 ± 3.34c	1.66 ± 2.50	0.003
Anxiety symptoms	201 (61.5)ac	236 (23.3)c	10 (10.0)	0.002
Mild	97 (29.7)ac	162 (16)	10 (10.0)	0.001
Moderate	74 (22.6)ac	60 (5.9)c	0 (0)	0.003
Severe	30 (9.2)ac	14 (1.4)	0 (0)	0.001
HAMA score	10.84 ± 5.82)ac	6.83 ± 3.53)c	2.26 ± 2.68	0.001
Both depression and anxiety symptoms	186 (56.9)ac	171 (16.9)c	6 (6.0)	0.001
Eating behavior
Skip meals	68 (20.8)ac	131 (12.9)c	4 (4.0)	0.010
Eating late	92 (28.1)ac	222 (21.9)c	6 (6.0)	0.001
Eating extra meal	30 (9.2)ac	55 (5.4)c	3 (3.0)	0.010
Physical activity level
High	98 (30.0)c	332 (32.7)c	44 (44.0)	0.030
Moderate	156 (47.7)	536 (52.9)	54 (54.0)	0.240
Low	73 (22.3)ac	146 (14.4)c	2 (2.0)	0.001
Working time
Working in the day	160 (48.9)	529 (52.2)	56 (56.0)	0.400
Working at night	22 (6.7)	101 (10.0)c	2 (2.0)	0.010
No work	126 (38.5)b	333 (32.8)	25 (25.0)	0.030
Sleeping disorder	204 (62.4)ac	334 (32.9)c	13 (13.0)	0.001
PSQI score	8.87 ± 5.00ac	5.70 ± 4.12c	2.95 ± 2.78	0.001
SF-36 score	61.17 ± 16.77ac	74.96 ± 13.51c	88.18 ± 7.30	0.001
Number of times seeking medical advice	13.41 ± 7.66	4.09 ± 2.20	-	0.002
Cost of treatments	3797.28 ± 1406.41	1523.07 ± 665.35	-	0.001

Continuous data are expressed as mean ± SD, and were compared across groups using one-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls test for multiple comparisons. Count data were compared across groups using a χ² test.

^aP < 0.05 vs NRFD patients;

^cP < 0.05 vs healthy volunteers. RFD: Refractory functional dyspepsia; NRFD: Non-refractory functional dyspepsia; HAMA: Hamilton Anxiety Scale; HAMD: Hamilton Depression Scale; PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; SF-36: MOS 36-item Short Form Health Survey.