Stress profile, coping style, anxiety, depression, and gastric emptying as predictors of functional dyspepsia: A case-control study ☆ José Ma. De la Roca-Chiapas a,c, ⁎ , Silvia Solís-Ortiz b , Martha Fajardo-Araujo b , Modesto Sosa a , Teodoro Córdova-Fraga a , Alma Rosa-Zarate d a División de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Departamento de Ingeniería Física, Universidad de Guanajuato, León, Guanajuato, México b División de Ciencias de la Salud, Departamento de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Guanajuato, León, Guanajuato, México c Asociación Cultural Nueva Acrópolis México, León, Guanajuato, México d Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, León, Guanajuato, México Received 11 August 2008; received in revised form 3 May 2009; accepted 26 May 2009 Abstract Objective: To determine whether gastric emptying, stomach peristaltic frequencies, stress profile, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and salivary cortisol levels could predict functional dyspepsia (FD). Methods: Magnetogastrography (MGG) was used to measure gastric emptying time and the gastric peristaltic frequencies in 15 patients with FD diagnosis and in 17 healthy volunteers. In all the participants, stress profile, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were evaluated by means of standardized questionnaires, and morning salivary samples were collected for the measurement of cortisol levels. A univariate logistic regression model was used to examine the probability of the measured variables to predict the presence of FD. Results: The univariate logistic regression model showed that the half-time of gastric emptying (OR=1.16 P=.01); the subscale of stress items (OR=1.08, P=.003); negative appraisal of subscale coping strategies (OR=1.03, P=0.007); anxiety (OR=1.05, P=.01); and depression (OR=1.23, P=.02) had a significant predictive value for the presence of FD. However, by applying the stricter multiple comparison criterions, only stress, negative appraisal, and anxiety arose as predictors of FD. The FD patients compared with healthy volunteers showed significantly elevated half-time of gastric empting (Pb .0006), high scores in the subscales of stress (Pb .000003), in behavior type “A” (Pb .04), in coping styles ( Pb .008), in depression ( Pb .0004), and in anxiety (Pb .0002). Conclusions: These findings indicate that psychoso- cial stress, mood symptoms, and coping style are predictors of FD. The stress shows high sensibility and specificity in the patients with FD, indicating a contribution in the etiopathogen- esis of dyspepsia. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cortisol; Functional dyspepsia; Gastric emptying; Mood; Stress Introduction Functional dyspepsia (FD) is characterized by persistent or recurrent pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen without evidence of peptic ulcer or organic disease [1,2]. Approxi- mately 25% of the adult population shows some persistent or recurrent abdominal symptoms [3–5], which affect the quality of life [6,7]. The pathogenesis of FD remains unclear [8–10], but psychosocial factors are considered to play an important role [3,11,12]. Although the gut is physiologically responsive to emotional and stressful stimuli, the studies Journal of Psychosomatic Research 68 (2010) 73 – 81 ☆ This work was supported by CONACyT Grant 38749-E, CONCyTEG Grant 0316k118-028, and by the University of Guanajuato. José Maria de la Roca received a CONACyT scholarship (No. 184928) for work on a doctorate degree and a dissertation scholarship (CONCyTEG No. 06-16- k119-16). ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 477 7885100x8475; fax: +52 477 7885100x8410. E-mail address: joseroca@fisica.ugto.mx (J.M. De la Roca-Chiapas). 0022-3999/09/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.05.013