GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES;

. Objectives: To determine the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases/symptoms in a tertiary care hospital of Peshawar.Methods: A Cross sectional observational study was conducted in Medical department Khyber teaching hospital Peshawar from August 2005to march 2006. A total of 189 patients with established diagnosis of any gastrointestinal disease were randomly selected. Out of total101(53.43%) were males and 88(46.56%) were females. Relevant information’s were recorded on a pre-designed questionnaire was designedin accordance with the objectives of the study. Results: The age range of the patients was from 8 years to 82 years with mean age of 47.5years. The mode age observed was 45 years. Of total sampling (43.91%) were illiterate, primary passed (24.33%), matric education (15.87%),secondary education (11.11%) and (4.76%) patients had degree level education. The gastrointestinal disease pattern was: acute peptic disease/dyspepsia (15.87%), reflux esophagitis (7.91%), duodenal ulcer (1.5%), gastric ulcer (0.5%), worm infestation (1.5%), esophageal carcinoma(0.5%) and miscellaneous in 136(71.95%) patients. The distribution of the gastrointestinal disease symptoms was: chronic diarrhea (19.04%),vomiting (12.16%), dysentery (6.34%), bleeding per rectum (5.20%), constipation (2.1%), anorexia (1.5%), dysphagia (1.10%) and multiplesymptoms were recorded in (24.33%) patients. Conclusion: acute peptic disease/dyspepsia, chronic diarrhea dysentery, reflux esophagitisare major gastro intestinal (GI) diseases in our setup. Duodenal and gastric ulcers, carcinoma of gastrointestinal tract, worms infestation,dysphagia and anorexia were not as common.