A cohort study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Thailand
from 2005 to 2009. Peptic ulcer patients aged 15 years and over admitted to the surgical department
were included. The diagnostic indicators used criteria of the patients’ final diagnoses
and operations, coded according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and
Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, which included patient profiles, gender, age, coexisting
illnesses, personal habits, signs and symptoms, laboratory investigations, radiological finding,
and treatment role. Exponential risk regression analyses to obtain relative risk (RR) estimates
for diagnostic indicators were analyzed using Stata® statistical software package, version 11
(StataCorp LP, College Station, TX).