Abstract
Introduction
Measures of mood and effective coping strategies have notable correlations with quality of life and treatment responses. There is evidence that patients with previously diagnosed anxiety disorders have less improvement in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) after laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) and that objective pathology does not correlate well with symptom severity. We were interested in investigating whether anxiety and hypervigilance, as measured preoperatively with the esophageal hypervigilance anxiety scale (EHAS), is associated with the improvement in GERD-specific PROMs and EHAS scores 6 months after LARS.
Methods
We performed a retrospective cohort study of 102 adult patients (31% men, average age 64) who underwent LARS. In the preoperative evaluation, baseline gastroesophageal reflux disease-health-related quality of life (GERD-HRQL), laryngopharyngeal reflux symptom index (LPR-RSI) and EHAS scores were collected in addition to the standard reflux workup, including endoscopy, manometry, barium swallow, and pH study. For all three surveys, a higher score represents worse symptom severity. At 6 months postoperatively, 70 patients completed repeat GERD-HRQL, LPR-RSI, and EHAS surveys. We then analyzed for surgical and patient-related factors associated with improvement in the 6-month postoperative GERD-HRQL and LPR-RSI scores.
Results
There was a statistically significant decrease in the GERD-HRQL (25 vs. 2, p < 0.001), LPR-RSI (17 vs. 3, p < 0.001) and EHAS (34 vs. 15, p < 0.001) 6 months after LARS. On multivariable linear regression, a higher baseline EHAS score was independently associated with a greater improvement in GERD-HRQL (β 0.35, p < 0.001) and LPR-RSI (β 0.19, p = 0.03) 6-months after LARS. Additionally, the degree of improvement in EHAS, GERD-HRQL, and LPR-RSI was not influenced by the type of LARS performed or by the severity of disease.
Conclusion
These findings are consistent with literature suggesting that measures of psychoemotional health correlate better with symptom intensity than objective pathology. We found that patients with a higher EHAS score have greater symptom severity and lower quality of life at baseline. Novel findings to this study are that patients with a higher preoperative EHAS, a measure of psychoemotional health, actually benefitted more from surgery and not less, which has been the traditional view in the literature. Future studies are warranted to establish directionality and explore the role of preoperative cognitive behavioral therapy with LARS for patients with significant symptoms of hypervigilance and anxiety.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gong EJ, Choi KD, Jung HK et al (2017) Quality of life, patient satisfaction, and disease burden in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease with or without laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 32(7):1336–1340. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgh.13716
Ness-Jensen E, Hveem K, El-Serag H, Lagergren J (2016) Lifestyle intervention in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 14(2):175–182
Maret-Ouda J, Wahlin K, El-Serag HB, Lagergren J (2017) Association between laparoscopic antireflux surgery and recurrence of gastroesophageal reflux. JAMA 318(10):939–946
Yadlapati R, Adkins C, Jaiyeola D-M et al (2016) Abilities of oropharyngeal pH tests and salivary pepsin analysis to discriminate between asymptomatic volunteers and subjects with symptoms of laryngeal irritation. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 14(4):535–542
Wiklund I (2004) Review of the quality of life and burden of illness in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dig Dis 22(2):108–114
Tack J, Becher A, Mulligan C, Johnson DA (2012) Systematic review: the burden of disruptive gastro-oesophageal reflux disease on health-related quality of life. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 35(11):1257–1266. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2012.05086.x
Spechler SJ, Hunter JG, Jones KM et al (2019) Randomized trial of medical versus surgical treatment for refractory heartburn. N Engl J Med 381(16):1513–1523
Emken B-EG, Lundell LR, Wallin L et al (2017) Effects of omeprazole or anti-reflux surgery on lower oesophageal sphincter characteristics and oesophageal acid exposure over 10 years. Scand J Gastroenterol 52(1):11–17
Francis DO, Patel DA, Sharda R et al (2016) Patient-reported outcome measures related to laryngopharyngeal reflux: a systematic review of instrument development and validation. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 155(6):923–935
Taft TH, Triggs JR, Carlson DA et al (2018) Validation of the oesophageal hypervigilance and anxiety scale for chronic oesophageal disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 47(9):1270–1277. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14605
Hill C, Versluijs Y, Furay E et al (2020) Psychoemotional factors and their influence on the quality of life in patients with GERD. Surg Endosc 2020:1–8
Choi JM, Yang JI, Kang SJ et al (2018) Association between anxiety and depression and gastroesophageal reflux disease: results from a large cross-sectional study. J Neurogastroenterol and Motil 24(4):593
Yang XJ, Jiang HM, Hou XH, Song J (2015) Anxiety and depression in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and their effect on quality of life. World J Gastroenterol 21(14):4302–4309. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v21.i14.4302
Kessing BF, Bredenoord AJ, Saleh CM, Smout AJ (2015) Effects of anxiety and depression in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 13(6):1089–1095
Levy S, Plymale M, Davenport DL, Ponte OIM, Roth JS (2014) Patient symptoms correlate poorly with objective measures among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Am Surg 80(9):901–905
Kothari BL, Borgert AJ, Kallies KJ, Kothari SN (2020) Lack of correlation between subjective and objective measures of gastroesophageal reflux disease: call for a novel validated assessment tool. Surg Innov 2020:1553350620955031
Kao S-S, Chen W-C, Hsu P-I et al (2013) The frequencies of gastroesophageal and extragastroesophageal symptoms in patients with mild erosive esophagitis, severe erosive esophagitis, and barrett’s esophagus in Taiwan. Gastroenterol Res Pract 2013:480325
Bradley LA, Richter JE, Pulliam TJ et al (1993) The relationship between stress and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux: the influence of psychological factors. Am J Gastroenterol 88(1):9
Levine D, Hamelin B, Magner D, Rogers P, Barret R, Joelsson B (1999) Correlation between patient demographics and heartburn severity with Los Angeles (LA) classification of erosive esophagitis. Am J Gastroenterol 94:2591
Haug TT, Mykletun A, Dahl AA (2002) Are anxiety and depression related to gastrointestinal symptoms in the general population? Scand J Gastroenterol 37(3):294–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/003655202317284192
Smout A (2007) the measurement of non-acid gastro-oesophageal reflux. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 26:7–12
Carlsson R, Dent J, Watts R et al (1998) Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in primary care: an international study of different treatment strategies with omeprazole. International GORD study group. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 10(2):119–124
Jansson C, Nordenstedt H, Wallander MA et al (2007) Severe gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms in relation to anxiety, depression and coping in a population-based study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 26(5):683–691. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03411.x
Hu WHC, Wong WM, Lam CLK et al (2002) Anxiety but not depression determines health care-seeking behaviour in Chinese patients with dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome: a population-based study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 16(12):2081–2088. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2036.2002.01377.x
Aro P, Talley NJ, Ronkainen J et al (2009) Anxiety is associated with uninvestigated and functional dyspepsia (Rome III criteria) in a Swedish population-based study. Gastroenterology 137(1):94–100
Kamolz T, Velanovich V (2002) Psychological and emotional aspects of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dis Esophagus 15(3):199–203
Velanovich V (2003) The effect of chronic pain syndromes and psychoemotional disorders on symptomatic and quality-of-life outcomes of antireflux surgery. J Gastrointest Surg 7(1):53–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1091-255x(02)00136-1
Kamolz T, Granderath FA, Pointner R (2003) Does major depression in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease affect the outcome of laparoscopic antireflux surgery? Surg Endosc 17(1):55–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-002-8504-8
Kamolz T, Granderath FA, Bammer T, Pasiut M, Pointner R (2001) Psychological intervention influences the outcome of laparoscopic antireflux surgery in patients with stress-related symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Scand J Gastroenterol 36(8):800–805. https://doi.org/10.1080/003655201750313306
Kamolz T, Bammer T, Granderath FA, Pointner R (2001) Laparoscopic antireflux surgery in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease patients with concomitant anxiety disorders. Dig Liver Dis 33(8):659–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1590-8658(01)80041-4
Velanovich V, Karmy-Jones R (2001) Psychiatric disorders affect outcomes of antireflux operations for gastroesophageal reflux disease. Surg Endosc 15(2):171–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004640000318
Lord RV, Kaminski A, Öberg S et al (2002) Absence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in a majority of patients taking acid suppression medications after Nissen fundoplication. J Gastrointest Surg 6(1):3–10
Khajanchee YS, O’Rourke RW, Lockhart B, Patterson EJ, Hansen PD, Swanstrom LL (2002) Postoperative symptoms and failure after antireflux surgery. Arch Surg 137(9):1008–1014
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Drs. Hill, Crijns, Furay, Buckley, Mr. Nofal, Yan, Holan and Alexander, and Mrs. Walsh and Ms. Doggett have no conflict of interest or financial ties to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hill, C., Crijns, T., Nofal, Y. et al. Finding relief for the self-conscious esophagus: laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery and the esophageal hypersensitivity and anxiety scale. Surg Endosc 36, 7656–7663 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09081-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09081-5