Analysis of gastroscopy results among healthy people undergoing a medical checkup: a retrospective study

Barriers to upper gastrointestinal screening among the general population in high-prevalence areas: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

In China, there are large differences between regions in the use of gastroscopies and public awareness of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) screening.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the current context and analyzed the barriers that influence UGI screening behavior among the general population in UGI cancer high-prevalence areas.

METHODS

A total of 320 participants anonymously answered an online questionnaire. The rank sum test was used to analyze the difference in the scores of the UGI screening awareness questionnaire among participants with different socio-demographic characteristics. Using the awareness level of UGI screening and gastroscopy as the dependent variable, and the socio-demographic characteristics as the independent variable, simple linear regression and binary logistic regression analysis were used to determine the factors influencing attitudes toward gastroscopy screening. We used Spearman's correlation analysis to examine the correlation between UGI screening awareness level and willingness to undergo a gastroscopy.

RESULTS

There was a correlation between the willingness to undergo gastroscopy and the awareness level of UGI screening (r = 0.243, p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis found that age, type of residence, education level, employment status, monthly income, history of gastroscopy, dietary habits, physical exercise, and convenience in obtaining information were significantly correlated with the awareness level of UGI screening ( p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis found that factors significantly associated with gastric cancer screening behavior include residence, monthly income, and self-perceived health status ( p  < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

It is necessary to improve education about UGI cancer and screening knowledge, with a focus on populations with lower education and income.

Telephone follow-up by clinical pharmacists can improve treatment outcomes in patients with peptic ulcers: A prospective randomized study

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pharmaceutical care by clinical pharmacists through telephone follow-up on the treatment outcomes in patients with peptic ulcers who had been discharged from the hospital.

METHODS

A total of 120 patients with peptic ulcers discharged from the hospital were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group, with 60 patients in each group. The patients in the two groups received different services.

RESULTS

A total of 108 patients with peptic ulcers were enrolled in this study, including 53 in the intervention group and 55 in the control group. This study showed that the Helicobacter pylori eradication rate (19/23, 82.61% vs 13/29, 44.83%), awareness of peptic ulcer disease, medication compliance, diet compliance, and life compliance in the patients in the intervention group were higher than those in the patients in the control group. The H pylori eradication group had higher follow-up scores than the noneradication group. Sex and body mass index (BMI) did not affect the results in either group, but age did. In the control group, younger patients scored higher than older patients, whereas in the intervention group, this difference disappeared for diet compliance and life compliance, and significant differences remained for awareness of basic knowledge regarding peptic ulcer (AOKPU) and medication compliance.

CONCLUSION

As a form of clinical pharmaceutical care, telephone follow-up by clinical pharmacists is recommended for discharged patients with peptic ulcers because it can improve treatment outcomes after discharge.

Outcome of Nursing Based on Health Belief United with Knowledge, Belief, and Practice Mode on Gastroscopy of Patients with Gastric Cancer

Aim

If gastric cancer can be detected through early screening, and scientific and reasonable intervention methods can be selected in time, the condition can be effectively controlled. Routine nursing has been unable to obtain satisfactory results, and the effect on improving the compliance of the examiner is not outstanding. The research aims to estimate the outcome of nursing based on health belief combined with knowledge, belief, and practice on gastroscopy in patients with gastric cancer.

Methods

126 patients with clinically diagnosed gastric cancer in the Number Two Hospital of Baoding from May 2020 to May 2022 were randomly divided into belief guidance group and mode group, with 63 instances each. The mode group was intervened via the mode of knowledge, belief, and practice, and the belief guidance group was intervened via the nursing based on health belief on the basis of the mode group. Before and after the nursing, the health belief, examination compliance, inappropriateness, and negative emotion in different time periods were contrasted between the two groups.

Results

After the nursing, the scores of health belief scale in the belief guidance group were enhanced than those in the mode group; the compliance rate of the belief guidance group was markedly enhanced than that of the mode group, and the inappropriateness during the insertion and examination was lower than that of the mode group; the scores of self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) in the two groups preinsertion and postnursing were markedly lower than those in the mode group.

Conclusion

Nursing based on health belief guidance united with knowledge, belief, and practice mode nursing can advance the health belief and compliance of gastroscopy in patients with gastric cancer, reduce discomfort, and effectively advance the negative emotions of patients. It is worthy of clinical application.

Clinical practice of Helicobacter pylori infection management by gastroenterologists in secondary and tertiary hospitals: A stratified sampling cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the management of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection by gastroenterologists from secondary and tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China, where there is a high prevalence of H. pylori infection.

METHODS

A questionnaire-based, stratified sampling survey was conducted from June 1 to August 30, 2021. The ratio of secondary to tertiary hospitals was set at 2:1. An electronic questionnaire was sent to the gastroenterologists via the WeChat platform.

RESULTS

A total of 89.09% (1053/1182) gastroenterologists were included. Overall, 34.19% and 60.59% of gastroenterologists recommended screening for and treating H. pylori infection in patients without any competing factors. The most preferred testing method in secondary and tertiary hospitals was the ¹³ C-urea breath test (53.92% and 80.48%), but the reexamination rate of results close to the cut-off value was low (55.10% and 59.48%). Gastroenterologists preferred bismuth-containing quadruple therapy (secondary and tertiary hospitals: 96.67% and 98.53%), but the antibiotic combination prescribed for patients with penicillin allergy was suboptimal in secondary hospitals. The overall post-treatment follow-up rate was 64.58%, and gastroenterologists in secondary hospitals were more proactive than those in tertiary hospitals (69.41% vs 60.04%, P = 0.001). Less than 80% of gastroenterologists emphasized the importance of post-treatment reexamination to their patients. Only a minority of gastroenterologists in secondary and tertiary hospitals (30.79% and 34.36%) achieved acceptable eradication rates (exceeding 80%).

CONCLUSIONS

Deficiencies exist in gastroenterologists from secondary and tertiary hospitals, and the H. pylori eradication rate is relatively low. Training programs for gastroenterologists are warranted to strengthen their comprehension of guidelines.

Association Between Low Muscle Mass and Gastric Hyperplastic and Inflammatory Polyps in Chinese Asymptomatic Adult Males

Background

Gastric polyp is an abnormally proliferative or neoplastic growth of the gastric mucosa, with a degree of tendency to transform into gastric cancer. Lack of physical activity that is significantly related to low muscle mass (LMM) and muscle strength has been identified to be associated with gastric polyps. In this study, we examine the association of LMM and different histological types of gastric polyps among Chinese asymptomatic adult males.

Methods

In total, 1,742 male adults undergoing bioelectrical impedance analysis and upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were included. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the effect of LMM on the risk of gastric polyps and different histological types.

Results

By univariate and multivariate analyses, LMM (OR: 1.689, 95%CI: 1.046–2.726, p = 0.032) kept independent effect on risk of gastric polyps. When ratio of appendicular skeletal muscle mass to body mass index(ASM/BMI) was brought into the analyses, it was identified to be negatively correlated with occurrence of gastric polyps (OR: 0.744, 95%CI: 0.566–0.977, p = 0.033). For different pathological types, LMM showed different effect on occurrence of gastric polyps. LMM was an independent indicator for hyperplastic and inflammatory polyps (OR: 2.378, 95%CI: 1.288–4.389, p = 0.006), rather than fundic gland polyps (OR: 1.013, 95%CI: 0.473–2.173, p = 0.973).

Conclusion

In general, LMM was an independent indicator for hyperplastic and inflammatory polyps occurrence in Chinese asymptomatic adult males.

Gastroscopic results for the asymptomatic, average-risk population in Northern China: a cross-sectional study of 60,519 adults

BACKGROUND

Studies on average-risk individuals undergoing gastroscopy screening in China are scarce.

OBJECTIVE

To determine and compare the prevalence of lesions found by gastroscopy and the association between sex, age, Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric premalignant lesions.

METHODS

Gastroscopy results were analysed for 60,519 individuals enrolled from January 2013 to December 2019.

RESULTS

The median age was 49.84 years (SD, 9.47 years) for women and 48.90 years (SD, 8.82 years) for men, and the ratio of females to males was 35.10% (n = 21,240) to 64.90% (n = 39,279). The most common lesions detected by endoscopy were chronic gastritis, reflux oesophagitis, duodenitis and gastric polyps, detected in 24.48%, 10.28%, 3.96% and 3.61%, respectively. Oesophageal cancer and gastric cancer were detected in 0.33% and 0.47% of patients, respectively. The prevalence of chronic gastritis increased with age and was higher in males than in females (26.47% [n = 10396] versus 20.80% [n = 4417], p < .001). The prevalence of gastric ulcers was highest in the elderly group, and the H. pylori infection rate of gastric ulcer patients was 47.28%. The prevalence of gastric polyps was higher in females than in males (5.47% [n = 1161] versus 2.61% [n = 1024], p < .001), and the H. pylori infection rate in inflammatory polyp patients was higher than that in fundic gland polyp patients (28.32% [n = 442] versus 7.29% [n = 29], p < .001).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of upper gastrointestinal endoscopic lesions is high in the asymptomatic population undergoing physical examination and is associated with sex, age, and H. pylori infection.

Dose-Effect Relationship Between Gastric Cancer and Common Digestive Tract Symptoms and Diagnoses in Anhui, China

Background

Early prevention and diagnosis are key to reducing the huge burden of gastric cancer (GC). Nearly half of the population worldwide are suffering from some form of digestive tract conditions (symptoms/diagnoses, DTCs) but their relations with GC are not well understood. We aim to explore the relationships (especially dose–effect relationships) between GC and DTCs.

Methods

This study used data from a community-based case–control study in Anhui, China during 2016–2019 and performed multivariate conditional logistic regression modeling of the associations between GC and DTCs.

Results

A total of 2255 participants (451 cases and 1804 controls) completed the study. Statistically significant relations (P<0.05) were found between GC and the presence of gastroesophageal reflux [odds ratio (OR)=1.41], odynophagia (OR=1.87), stomach discomfort (OR=1.86), poor appetite (OR=2.01) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection (OR=4.39). When the DTCs were divided into duration grades, all these ORs presented an increasing trend (P<0.05), being 1.89 to 2.45 for gastroesophageal reflux, 1.63 to 3.78 for stomach discomfort, 2.36 to 5.29 for poor appetite, and 3.95 to 10.03 for H. pylori infection. When the DTCs were divided into severity grades, the ORs also witnessed an increasing trend (P<0.05), being 1.69 to 2.52 for gastroesophageal reflux, 2.44 to 3.56 for stomach discomfort, and 2.22 to 2.75 for poor appetite. When the DTCs were divided into duration-severity grades, the ORs displayed a much steeper increasing trend, being 0.49 to 4.96 for gastroesophageal reflux, 1.50 to 6.33 for odynophagia, 0.47 to 3.32 for stomach discomfort, and 0.40 to 10.47 for poor appetite. In contrast, the ORs for the lower DTCs were generally tested without statistical significance.

Conclusion

The study revealed consistent dose–effect associations between GC and duration of gastroesophageal reflux, stomach discomfort, poor appetite, and H. pylori infection; severity of gastroesophageal reflux, stomach discomfort and poor appetite; and duration-severity of gastroesophageal reflux, odynophagia, stomach discomfort and poor appetite. These should inform future prevention, diagnosis and further research in patients with GC.