Prevalence of undiagnosed dyspepsia associated factors, and its relationship with quality of life among undergraduate health professional students at Makerere University in Uganda

Introduction Dyspepsia affects 6.9% of people globally and significantly impairs quality of life, yet it often remains undiagnosed. Undiagnosed dyspepsia (UD) affects up to one-third of patients and is prevalent among students due to stress, irregular eating, and self-medication. In Uganda, limited access to endoscopy results in many cases being undiagnosed, yet recent data among health professional students remains scarce. Objective To determine the prevalence of UD, associated factors, and its relationship with QoL among undergraduate health professional students at Makerere University. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving 378 undergraduate health professional students from Makerere University between March and April 2025. Participants were pursuing Medicine and Surgery, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dental Surgery, aged ≥ 18 years, and were selected by stratified simple random sampling. Data on socio-demographics, lifestyle, and dyspeptic symptoms were collected using a structured questionnaire based on various tools. Data was analyzed using STATA 17 in the survey window. Prevalence of UD was estimated with 95% confidence intervals. Modified Poisson regression was used to determine associated factors, while mixed-effects linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between dyspepsia and quality of life. Results The prevalence of undiagnosed dyspepsia (UD) was 13.5% (95% CI: 10.2–17.4). Drinking tea, either some days (aPR = 0.424; 95% CI: 0.197–0.913) or daily (aPR = 0.345; 95% CI: 0.167–0.713), and engaging in high physical activity (aPR = 0.374; 95% CI: 0.151–0.927) were associated with a protective effect. Predisposing factors were eating two meals daily (aPR = 2.637; 95% CI: 1.213–5.733), alcohol use (aPR = 1.775; 95% CI: 1.062–2.966), moderate fatigue (aPR = 1.842; 95% CI: 1.126–3.011), underweight Body Mass index (aPR = 2.202; 95% CI: 1.038–4.675), and longer sleep duration (aPR = 1.925; 95% CI: 1.156–3.204). No significant association was found with quality of life (p = 0.217). Conclusion The prevalence of UD among undergraduate health professional students was moderately high, though not significantly associated with quality of life. Targeted health education that promotes regular physical activity, addresses fatigue, and discourages excessive alcohol and coffee consumption may help reduce the burden of UD in this population.