Background and aims: It is still controversial which drugs, proton pump inhibitors (PPI) or histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA), are more effective for dyspepsia in the Japanese population.
Methods: Patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia (n = 104; male/female 41/63) were treated with either rabeprazole 10 mg o.d. (n = 62) or lafutidine 10 mg b.i.d. (n = 42) for 4 weeks. Questionnaires (modified Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease [mFSSG] and quality of life [QOL], SF-8) were administered before and after therapy. The mFSSG was classified into a total score (Q-T), reflux score (Q-R), dyspepsia score (Q-D) and pain score (Q-P). The SF-8 had a physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS). The predominant type of symptom was reflux (R-S), pain (P-S) or dysmotility (D-S).
Results: R-S was 19.2%, P-S 48.1%, D-S 24.0% and overlap 8.7%. In the R-S, Q-T and Q-R significantly improved with rabeprazole, but neither scale improved with lafutidine. MCS significantly improved with rabeprazole. In P-S, Q-T, Q-R, Q-D and Q-P significantly improved with both drugs. PCS significantly improved with both, whereas the MCS significant improved with rabeprazole. In D-S, Q-R and Q-D significant improved with rabeprazole, but neither improved with lafutidine. QOL did not improve with either. With overlap, neither scale nor the QOL reached a significant difference.
Conclusion: Both PPI and H2RA have a positive effect on P-S, but H(2)RA therapy is limited for R-S and D-S, whereas PPI therapy is generally effective. Therefore, careful prescription based on symptoms is important.