The strategies based on H. pylori test enjoyed similar symptom resolution, but reduced endoscopic workload and lower 1-yr total costs compared with empirical antisecretory therapy.

Objective is to explore how multimorbidity is defined in the scientific literature, with a focus on the roles of diseases, risk factors, and symptoms in the definitions. Design: Systematic review. Methods: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, and The Cochrane Library were searched for relevant publications up until October 2013. One author extracted the information. Ambiguities were resolved, and consensus reached with one co-author. Outcome measures were: cut-off point for the number of conditions included in the definitions of multimorbidity; setting; data sources; number, kind, duration, and severity of diagnoses, risk factors, and symptoms. We reviewed 163 articles. In 61 articles (37%), the cut-off point for multimorbidity was two or more conditions (diseases, risk factors, or symptoms). The most frequently used setting was the general population (68 articles, 42%), and primary care (41 articles, 25%). Sources of data were primarily self-reports (56 articles, 42%). Out of the 163 articles selected, 115 had individually constructed multimorbidity definitions, and in these articles diseases occurred in all definitions, with diabetes as the most frequent. Risk factors occurred in 98 (85%) and symptoms in 71 (62%) of the definitions. The severity of conditions was used in 26 (23%) of the definitions, but in different ways. The definition of multimorbidity is heterogeneous and risk factors are more often included than symptoms. The severity of conditions is seldom included. Since the number of people living with multimorbidity is increasing there is a need to develop a concept of multimorbidity that is more useful in daily clinical work. Key pointsThe increasing number of multimorbidity patients challenges the healthcare system. The concept of multimorbidity needs further discussion in order to be implemented in daily clinical practice.Many definitions of multimorbidity exist and most often a cut-off point of two or more is applied to a range of 4–147 different conditions.Diseases are included in all definitions of multimorbidity.Risk factors are often included in existing definitions, whereas symptoms and the severity of the conditions are less frequently included.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used, and concerns about overuse have been raised. Therefore, side effects are important to be aware of and several suggested side effects of long-term use have been studied. In this MiniReview, we sum up the evidence of side effects related to long-term PPI treatment. Suspected side effects are mainly related to increased susceptibility to infections, secondary hypergastrinaemia, impeded absorption of micronutrients or idiosyncratic reactions. Most of the potential side effects have only been evaluated in observational studies demonstrating conflicting and weak associations with a substantial risk of confounding. However, a high probability of causality seems to be established for the side effects increased risk of gastrointestinal infections and rebound acid hypersecretion following discontinuation of treatment due to secondary hypergastrinaemia. The risk of side effects should not be a reason to withhold PPIs from patients with a true indication, and worry about poorly proven side effects should not lead to unnecessary discontinuation. The most important safety issue regarding PPI therapy is to critically evaluate the indication when initiating treatment and reconsidering the indication in long-term-treated patients.

BackgroundResearch has illustrated that the decision-making process regarding healthcare seeking for symptoms is complex and associated with a variety of factors, including gender differences. Enhanced understanding of the frequency of symptoms and the healthcare seeking behaviour in the general population may increase our knowledge of this complex field.The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of self-reported symptoms and the proportion of individuals reporting GP contact, in a large Danish nationwide cohort. A secondary objective was to explore gender differences in GP contacts in response to experiencing one of the 44 predefined symptoms.MethodsA Danish nationwide cohort study including a random sample of 100,000 individuals, representative of the adult Danish population aged 20 years or above. A web-based questionnaire survey formed the basis of this study. A total of 44 different symptoms covering a wide area of alarm symptoms and non-specific frequently occurring symptoms were selected based on extensive literature search. Further, items regarding contact to the GP were included. Data on socioeconomic factors were obtained from Statistics Denmark.ResultsA total of 49,706 subjects completed the questionnaire. Prevalence estimates of symptoms varied from 49.4 % (24,537) reporting tiredness to 0.11 % (54) reporting blood in vomit. The mean number of reported symptoms was 5.4 (men 4.8; women 6.0).The proportion of contact to the GP with at least one symptom was 37 %. The largest proportion of GP contacts was seen for individuals reporting blood in the urine (73.2 %), whereas only 11.4 % of individuals with increase in waist circumference reported GP contact. For almost 2/3 of the symptoms reported, no gender differences were found concerning the proportion leading to GP contacts.ConclusionPrevalence of symptoms and GP contacts are common in this overview of 44 different self-reported symptoms. For almost 2/3 of the reported symptoms no gender differences were found concerning the proportion leading to GP contacts. An enhanced understanding of healthcare seeking decisions may assist healthcare professionals in identifying patients who are at risk of postponing contact to the GP and may help development of health campaigns targeting these individuals.

OBJECTIVE. Meta-analyses have indicated effect of probiotics on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, few long-term trials have been conducted and uncertainty remains as to effectiveness and long-term effect in a primary care setting. We aimed to investigate the effect of probiotics compared with placebo in the management of IBS in primary care during a 6-month treatment period and with a 6-month follow-up. MATERIAL AND METHODS. We randomized IBS patients fulfilling Rome III criteria to receive two capsules twice daily either containing placebo or a probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp paracasei F19, Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and Bifidobacterium Bb12 in an amount of 1.3 × 10(10) CFU per capsule. Primary endpoint was proportion of responders defined as patients reporting adequate relief (AR) at least 50% of the time in the 6-month treatment period. Secondary outcomes were proportions of patients reporting AR at different time points, and change in gastrointestinal symptoms and health-related quality of life (HrQOL) from baseline to 6 and 12 months. RESULTS. A total of 131 patients were included in this study. The proportion of responders in the treatment period was 52% (35/67) in the probiotic group versus 41% (26/64) in the placebo group, p = 0.18. Overall we found no difference between the groups in change in gastrointestinal symptoms after treatment. Patients improved in HrQOL, but with no statistically significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSION. During a 6-month treatment period, we were not able to detect a positive effect of probiotic when compared with placebo.