This study addressed complex relationships between reflux symptoms and patients'impaired everyday lives.

Background/Aim. Recent population based studies have proved that patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) have a significantly impaired health-related quality of life HRQoL as compared to general population. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of FD on (HRQoL) in patients treated in primary healthcare settings in Serbia. Methods. The study involved 1,448 patients with FD. The diagnosis was made by a general practice physician or gastroenterologist using the Rome III diagnostic criteria. The Serbian version of the questionnaire for the assessment of HRQoL of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HRQoL-4 item CDC) was used for data collection, while descriptive statistical measurements were applied to calculate standard deviation, frequency as well as multiple logistic regression model. Results. Out of the total number of patients, 41.8% assessed their health condition as seriously disordered or poor. The mean values of health disorder duration over the last 30 days was 11.8 days, disordered physical health 7.2 days, mental disorder 6.3 days, and activity limitation 5.1 days. Also, 29.7%, 15.2%, 12.8% and 10.7% of the patients reported ≥ 14 unhealthy days, ≥ 14 physically unhealthy days, ≥ 14 mentally unhealthy days and ≥ 14 activity limitation days, respectively. Conclusion. From patients' perspective, FD has a significant impact on HRQoL. In this study, 41.8% of the patients described their health status as fair or poor, and FD significantly affects all aspects of life, both mental and physical. The recognition of that impact is probably the most important step towards appropriate treatment and decreasing HRQoL impairment in patients with FD.

No abstract

Introduction/Objective Recently published studies have addressed the significant impairment of healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) in patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional dyspepsia (FD). To the best of our knowledge, none of the previously published studies have compared the impact of GERD and FD on HRQoL. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of GERD and FD on HRQoL. Methods The current sample was extrapolated from a large cross-sectional population-based study conducted in primary health care facilities. Primary care physicians and general internists diagnosed GERD according to the Montreal definition for population-based studies. Also, primary care physicians and general internists diagnosed FD based on the Rome III criteria. The Serbian version of the generic self-administered Center for Disease Control and Prevention questionnaire was used. We used the propensity score method to match GERD and FD samples on variables such as age, gender, education, and adherence to therapy. Results Regarding self-rated health, similar results were obtained from both groups. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention HRQoL questionnaire version 4 further revealed that functional dyspepsia led to greater disturbances of everyday functioning in regard to the criteria of physically healthy, mentally healthy, and activity limitation days. Conclusion The results of the study have shown significant impairment of HRQoL in both groups, but, surprisingly, patients with FD experienced more limitations to their everyday functioning compared to patients with GERD.

Gastroesophageal re flux dis ease (ERD) was of ten con sid ered as a mi nor pub lic health prob lem and its po ten tial se ver ity was not fully rec og nized by the gen eral pub lic, pa tients, the health care system, and in some cases health care pro vid ers. Data about GERD re lated HRQoL in east ern Euro pean pop u la tion are scare. The aim of the study was to eval u ate the bur den of GERD on pa tients treated in Ser bian pri mary health care.The study included 1091 pa tients with di ag nosed GERD, treated in Ser bian pri mary health care. All pa tients com pleted Ser bian ver sion of ge neric self-ad min is tered Cen ter for Dis ease Con trol and Pre ven tion ques tion naire, CDC-HRQoL-4.In our study, 463 (42%) GERD patients self-rated their cur rent health sta tus as fair or poor, 584 (53%) had poor phys i cal health one or more days dur ing the past 30 days, 460 (42%) had poor men tal health one or more days for the same time period. Due to dis ease symp toms 492 (46%) GERD patients felt de pressed one or more days dur ing the past 30 days, 581 (54%) felt tired or sleepy dur ing the same time pe riod. In ad di tion, GERD pa tients had lower scores re gard ing num ber of healthy and unhealthy days.The ob tained re sults had dem on strated that in large pro por tion, GERD im paired pa tient every day lives. A better un der stand ing of the re la tionships be tween GERD and im paired HRQoL may allow the phy si cians in pri mary health care to man age these pa tients more ef fec tively in the fu ture.

Objectives: Our goal was to conduct the first survey and screening of colon cancer incidence trends in the Macva district, Serbia. Methods: Age-specific incidence of colon cancer among the > 20 years old adults that were diagnosed from 2006-2015 was analyzed using data from Cancer Registries of the Sabac Public Health Institute and Public Health Institute of Serbia. Linear model of the incidence rates and annual change in age-standardized incidence rates, by sex and age were presented. Standardized incidence ratio, based on average age-specific incidence rates of colon cancer for Sabac municipality and Central Serbia was calculated. Results: Based on the results from our study, colon cancer incidence in Sabac municipality increased in males and females in the last ten years. Risk of developing colon cancer in males and females, calculated by standardized rates ratios was 1.5 and 1.3, respectively. Linear, rising trend for age-standardized incidence rates in the population of Sabac compared to other municipalities in the Macva district was recorded. Furthermore, standardized incidence ratios for both females and males were higher compared to data from Central Serbia (28% and 22%, respectively). Conclusion: Our study revealed increased colon cancer incidence, with a linear increase of colon cancers in young males and also in > 50 years old population.