4. Risk Factors for Recurrence of Duodenal Ulcer during Maintenance Treatment with Ranitidine

Abstract

During an analysis of the efficacy of long-term maintenance treatment with ranitidine in 388 patients with duodenal ulcer disease, the effect of risk factors for ulcer recurrence was assessed. The risk factors studied were age, gender, smoking habit, duration of ulcer disease, and acid secretory capacity. The survival curves of patients with and without the risk factor were compared by means of the logrank test, and multivariate analysis was carried out with the Cox proportional hazards model. Results show that none of the risk factors studied had a major effect on the rate of ulcer recurrence during maintenance treatment for periods up to 5 years. Males were shown to have a greater risk of recurrence than females (P<0.05), and young patients had a greater risk of recurrence than older patients (P<0.01). Smoking status (P>0.1), disease duration (P>0.1), and acid output (P>0.1) had no effect on the rate of ulcer recurrence.

Key Words:

• Maintenance treatment
• risk factors
• ulcer recurrence