Use of proton pump inhibitors in general practice

Table 3 Characteristics of proton pump inhibitors-users with or without refundable conditions according to the Italian Drug Agency n (%)

	PPI refundable	PPI not refundable	P value
Patients	4383	1939
Males	1762 (40.2)	758 (39.1)	ns
Aged over 64 yr	2967 (67.7)	935 (48.4)	0.01
Arthropathy	2717 (62.0)	1069 (55.1)	0.01
Heart disease	1263 (28.8)	411 (21.9)	0.01
Neoplasms	764 (17.4)	312 (16.1)	ns
Use of NSAIDS	333 (7.6)	83 (4.3)	0.01
Use of ASA	1857 (42.4)	150 (7.7)	0.01
Use of OAT	255 (5.8)	245 (12.6)	0.01
Use of systemic steroids	201 (4.6)	105 (5.4)	ns
EGDscopy	1984 (45.3)	642 (33.1)	0.01
H. pylori test	1232 (28.1)	409 (21.1)	0.01

All the features differ significantly (P < 0.01) between the two groups, except for gender, frequency of neoplasms and use of systemic steroids. PPI: Proton pump inhibitors; GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; Heart disease: Heart failure, coronary ischemic disease, major heart valves disease; NSAIDS: Non steroid inflammatory drugs; ASA: Acetylsalicylic acid; OAR: Oral anticoagulant therapy; ns: Not significant; EGDscopy: Esophageal-gastro-duodenal endoscopy; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori.