Table 5. Association of the clinical, laboratory and baseline characteristics with the GI lesions among the study subjects.
BMI: Body mass index, NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, PPI: Proton pump inhibitor, GI: Gastrointestinal, MCV: Mean corpuscular volume
| Variables | GI lesion [Number (%)] | P value | |
| Yes (n=99) | No (n=53) | ||
| Age | |||
| <50 years | 26 (26.3) | 29 (54.7) | 0.0005 |
| >50 years | 73 (73.7) | 24 (45.3) | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.1 ± 5.2 | 20.3 ± 4.1 | 0.0009 |
| Diet | |||
| Vegetarian | 58 (58.6) | 40 (75.5) | 0.038 |
| Mixed | 41 (41.4) | 13 (24.5) | |
| History of medication | |||
| NSAID | 6 (6.1) | 3 (5.7) | 0.920 |
| PPI | 19 (19.2) | 3 (5.7) | 0.028 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| No | 57 (57.6) | 32 (60.4) | 0.738 |
| Yes | 42 (42.4) | 21 (39.6) | |
| Any GI symptoms | |||
| Yes | 75 (75.8) | 26 (49.1) | 0.008 |
| No | 24 (24.2) | 27 (50.9) | |
| Haematological | |||
| Haemoglobin (g/dL) | 8.6 ± 1.7 | 10.2 ± 1.4 | <0.0001 |
| MCV (fL) | 74.9 ± 8.2 | 75.6 ± 7.8 | 0.610 |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) | 6.3 ± 5.7 | 5.9 ± 4.3 | 0.655 |
| Transferrin (g/L) | 8.3 ± 2.9 | 7.7 ± 3.5 | 0.260 |
| Faecal | |||
| Occult Blood | 25 (25.3) | 31 (58.5) | <0.0001 |
| Parasites/Ova/Cysts | 6 (6.1) | 15 (28.3) | 0.0001 |