Patients’ characteristics endoscopic findings and factors associated with dyspepsia at Muhimbili National Hospital
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Date
2025
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Kairuki University
Abstract
Background
Dyspepsia is one of the most common conditions encountered in clinical practice and frequently necessitates upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. The procedure is generally safe, highly valuable diagnostically, and in certain cases provides therapeutic benefits. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical and endoscopic profile of patients presenting with dyspepsia at Muhimbili National Hospital and correlate them with clinical diagnosis.
Methodology
This study employed a cross-sectional design, including patients with dyspeptic symptoms who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at MNH from May to July 2025. The clinical (provisional) diagnosis was evaluated, and the data were assessed and compared with endoscopic findings, considered the gold standard. Diagnostic agreement was assessed using Cohen’s Kappa coefficient (қ), which classifies levels of agreement as fair (<0.4), moderate (0.4–0.6), substantial (0.6–0.8), and almost perfect (>0.8).
Results
A total of 189 patients were enrolled in the study. Of these, 110 (58.2%) were females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1: 1.4. The median age of patients was 48 [IQR, 42-56] years. The most common clinical symptom observed in upper gastrointestinal tract conditions was epigastric pain in 186 (94.4%) cases. Among the 189 patients, 184 (97.4%) showed pathological endoscopic findings, with gastritis being the most commonly observed condition accounting for 70.9% (n=134) of cases. Kappa statistic showed moderate to substantial agreement (ķ = 0.39 - 0.71) of the overall diagnostic accuracy of clinical diagnosis in the detection of upper GI conditions against endoscopic findings.
Conclusion
The findings of this study confirm that epigastric pain is the most frequent presenting symptom, and gastritis is the predominant clinical and endoscopic diagnosis. Given the relatively low accuracy of clinical diagnosis, upper GI endoscopy continues to provide the most reliable method for confirming these conditions; hence, endoscopy continues to be the definitive method for diagnosing upper gastrointestinal conditions.
Description
A dissertation submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Medicine (surgery) degree at Kairuki university
Keywords
endoscopic findings, dyspepsia
Citation
Khalfan, Ahmed M. 2025. Patients’ characteristics endoscopic findings and factors associated with dyspepsia at Muhimbili national hospital. Dissertation. Kairuki University