Low-value care and endoscopy in dyspepsia: A retrospective observational study from a metropolitan Australian hospital

Recent literature suggests that young patients aged <55 years without any alarm features are at low risk of having significant endoscopic findings (SEF) including malignancy, ulceration and erosive oesophagitis. Guidelines recommend that this patient subgroup should undergo a trial of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and potentially Helicobacter pylori testing before being considered for endoscopy. Hence, endoscopy has been identified as a potential source of unnecessary expense and low-value care for health services.We sought to assess the yield of performing endoscopy in young patients aged <55 years with dyspepsia referred by primary care physicians; and to assess …