Dyspepsia in Medical University Students and General Practitioners

Dyspepsia is a common complex of symptoms encountered in internal medicine and includes a group of symptoms related to the gastroduodenal region of the gastrointestinal tract. The objective: the purpose of the research is to study the prevalence of dyspepsia symptoms among the 1-6 years students of National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya, who had dyspepsia symptoms but did not ask for medical help and to establish risk factors for dyspepsia development among the students in comparison with general practitioners. Materials and methods. Using the Microsoft Forms platform we surveyed 300 respondents aged 18–65, among them 168 (56%) were domestic students of the 1st–6th year of study, 64 (21,3%) were foreign students of the 5th–6th year of study, and 68 (22.7%) referred to the doctors of general practice. We used a modified FSSG (Frequency Scale for Symptoms of GERD) questionnaire to assess the presence or absence of complaints in respondents. Supplemented questions were about the age, gender, body weight, and height of the respondents, the course of study and academic success (applied to the students), and the presence of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, taking pharmaceutical drugs, smoking, and alcohol consumption, indicating the number of doses per week. There was an additional question about the native country in the questionnaire for foreign students. The arithmetic mean and standard error of the arithmetic mean were calculated. The statistical probability of the difference between two samples was calculated using the Student’s t-test. We used the χ2 method to assess the influence of various factors on the occurrence of dyspepsia and GERD symptoms, and the correlation analysis was performed using the non-parametric Spearman method. Results. It was found that in the group of domestic students, compared to foreign ones, there were significantly more (p < 0.05) of those who noted the presence of dyspepsia symptoms (21.4% versus 10.9%), and significantly fewer (p < 0.01) almost healthy (60.7% vs. 79.7%). Meanwhile, no significant differences were found between the groups of domestic students and the doctors of general practice, and between the groups of foreign students and the doctors (p > 0.05). In all three groups, we established a relationship between the presence of symptoms of dyspepsia and GERD and the presence of gastrointestinal diseases in the anamnesis of the respondents. Thus, the coefficient of Spearman’s ranks for domestic students was 0.36, doctors group – 0.43, and foreign students group – 0.6 (p < 0.01).In the groups of domestic students and foreign ones, a correlation was established (p < 0.01) between taking medication and the appearance of symptoms of dyspepsia and GERD. In particular, the Spearman rank coefficient for the group of domestic students was 0.2, and for the foreign students group – 0.42. At the same time, such a relationship was absent in the surveyed group of family medicine doctors (p>0.05). The coefficient of Spearman’s ranks for the doctors group was 0.43. Conclusions. Respondents with symptoms of dyspepsia, GERD and their combination were found in all studied groups. The history of gastrointestinal diseases proved to be an independent provoking factor for the development of dyspepsia and GERD symptoms in all groups. Alcohol consumption was found to be a causing factor for the onset of dyspepsia and GERD symptoms among doctors and foreign students, and taking any medication is a provoking factor for the development of symptoms of dyspepsia and GERD among Ukrainian and foreign students.