Effects Of Reducing Beliefs About Medications On Dyspepsia Symptoms And Quality Of Life In Functional Dyspepsia Patients

Objective: To explore the effects of reducing beliefs about medications on dyspepsia symptoms and quality of life in functional dyspepsia(FD)patients.Methods: All FD patients enrolled in the study completed the specific part of Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire(BMQ-Specific),and received simple cognitive interventions to reduce patients’ specific necessity and concerns about medications(Specific-Necessity,Specific-Concerns).The Dyspepsia Symptoms Severity(DSS),Nepean Dyspepsia Index–Short Form(NDI),Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7(GAD-7),Patient Healthy Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9)and Patient Health Questionnaire-15(PHQ-15)were used to evaluate the severity of dyspeptic symptoms,quality of life,anxiety,depression and somatization symptoms in patients with FD.At 1 year follow-up,patients reported their symptomatic changes,such as disappeared,improved,unchanged,or worsened,provided information on whether or not to continue taking medicines and medications,and reassessed beliefs about medications,DSS and NDI.The t-test,chi-square test,Pearson’s correlation,and linear regression statistical analysis were used to analyze the changes of FD patients’ beliefs about medications and their effects on dyspepsia symptoms and quality of life before and after follow-up.Results: The scores of DSS(1.94±1.93)and NDI(30.28±8.16)in patients with obviously reduced Specific-Necessity had a uptrend compared with the scores of DSS(1.60±1.45)and NDI(30.15±6.87)in patients with unreduced Specific-Necessity,but there was no significant difference in the scores of DSS(t =-1.566,P>0.05)or NDI(t =-0.135,P>0.05)between patients with and without obviously reduced Specific-Necessity.The DSS(t = 2.962,P<0.05)and NDI(t = 5.883,P<0.05)scores of Specific-Concerns obviously reduced patients were significantly lower than Specific-Concerns unreduced patients,the difference was statistically significant.The cross-sectional linear regression analysis showed that types of FD(β = 0.393,P<0.05),depression(β = 0.236,P<0.05)and somatization(β = 0.343,P<0.05)might be associated with DSS score before follow-up;anxiety(β = 0.477,P<0.05)and depression(β = 0.174,P<0.05)might be associated with NDI score before follow-up.The longitudinal linear regression analysis showed that depression(β = 0.138,P<0.05),somatization(β = 0.227,P<0.05)and the changes of Specific-Concerns(β = 0.155,P<0.05)might be associated with DSS at follow-up;types of FD(β = 0.115,P<0.05),anxiety(β = 0.363,P<0.05),depression(β = 0.239,P<0.05),and the changes of Specific-Concerns(β = 0.281,P<0.05)might be associated with NDI at follow-up.Conclusion: The effects of treatment had a downtrend after reducing FD patients’ beliefs of necessity about medications,and reducing FD patients’ concerns about medications might decrease DSS and improve their quality of life,which indicated that increasing patients’ beliefs of necessity about medications and reducing patients’ concerns about medications might be helpful to the treatment of FD.