Study of the Clinical Diagnosis of Upper Gastrointestinal Disease Patterns in Fallujah Teaching Hospital-Iraq

Gastrointestinal diseases (GI) refer to diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract, namely the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum, and the accessory organs of digestion, the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) diseases is often made on clinical grounds in Fallujah Teaching Hospital. Medical records of patients presenting at Fallujah Teaching Hospitals between September 2014 and August 2016 were reviewed. Data were analyzed for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of clinical diagnosis using endoscopic diagnosis as a standard. Results of the study showed that males constituted 116 (53.4 %) of subjects and mean age was 47 years (+ 1.29 SD). Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) constituted (68.3 %) of referral diagnosis but (34.3 %) of endoscopic diagnosis. PUD had the highest sensitivity value (73 %) while gastritis had the least (4 %). Specificity ranged from (34 %) for PUD to (100 %) for corrosive esophagitis. Positive predictive value ranged from (0 %) (esophageal cancer) to (100 %) (corrosive esophagitis) and negative predictive value ranged from (66 %) for gastritis to (100 %) for corrosive esophagitis. It can be concluded that the validity of clinical diagnosis in UGI conditions varied widely, and in general, there is poor agreement between clinical and endoscopic diagnoses. The study aimed to determine age and sex distribution of patients presenting for UGI endoscopy and clinical and endoscopic diagnoses patterns in patients with UGI diseases.