Background and aims: We wished to study the prevalence as well as the sociodemographic characteristics and quality of life (QoL) of African American patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia (UD) among the population at large and compare it to the Caucasians.
Methods: A total of 990 adults from nine different sites in the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area (670 African Americans and 320 Caucasians), completed self-administered questionnaires providing sociodemographic information, and details regarding bowel habits and associated symptoms for diagnosing the presence or absence of UD based on ROME II criteria. QoL was assessed by the SF-12 questionnaire.
Results: Of the 990 participants 247 had UD, giving a total sample prevalence of 24.9% (African Americans = 24.3%, Caucasians = 26.2%). Adjusting for other risk factors in a reduced logistic regression model, we found female sex (OR 1.8; CI 1.2-2.6; p < 0.01), lower education (p < 0.01), and larger size of household (p = 0.01) to be important correlates of UD prevalence whereas the lower household income showed a trend toward statistical significance (p = 0.057). Using the adjusted odds ratio as an estimate of relative risk, Caucasians were 1.5 (95% CI = 11.1-2.1; p = 0.017) more likely than African Americans to have UD. In terms of an index for QoL on SF-12 (possible score = 1-44, with 44 being ideal), the adjusted mean score was significantly lower for adults with UD compared to non-UD adults (30.4 vs 35.0; p < 0.01). However, there was no difference in impairment of life in Caucasians versus African Americans (32.9 vs 32.5; p = 0.36).
Conclusions: UD occurs less frequently among African Americans. While UD affects QoL among both Caucasians and African Americans, the degree of impairment is similar.