Background
: It is known that gastrointestinal systems are very sensitive to psychosocial factors. The studies of correlation between gastrointestinal disorders and psychogenic illness have been performed. We studies the correlation between upper gastrointestinal diseases and depression, and upper gastrointestinal lesions and symptoms.

Methods : We assessed a group of 291 out-patients who received gastroscopy at the Department of Family Medicine, Dong-San Hospital, school of medicine, Keimyung university, and completed a questionnaire given from April to June, 1991. Data were gathered for epidemiologic status, sex, age, marriage, religion, occupation, education, alcohol, smoking, drug history, and the Zung self-rating depression scale was used to evaluate the patients' depression.

Results : The mean score of the depression scale was 43.40±10.73. Depression is more common in female than in male patients(p<0.01). Smokers had more gastroscopic abnormalities than non-smokers(p<0.05). Twenty symptoms were seen in the patients with upper gastrointestinal diseases. The most common symptom was hunger pain(49.8%), and the next were indigestion, belching, and nausea in that order. The score of depression was 43.44±11.40 for normal, 44.93±9.61 for gastroduodenitis, 38.81±9.14 for erosive gastritis and ulcer, and 55.22±10.96 for miscellaneous.

Conclusion : Depression might occur secondly to chronically recurring gastrointestinal disease. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of depression between normal and abnormal gastroscopic findings. Thus further studies with a larger number of subjects should be performed.