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Effects of coexisting upper gastrointestinal symptoms on daily life and quality of life in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms

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Abstract

Background and aim

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common disease encountered in daily medical care and clinical problem which hampers daily life and reduces quality of life (QOL). The coexistence of GERD-related symptoms with the typical GERD symptoms, such as heartburn or acid regurgitation, and various upper abdominal symptoms is frequently observed in patients with GERD. However, the effect of these coexisting symptoms on the daily life and QOL of patients with GERD has not been clarified. Therefore, the effects of the various upper abdominal symptoms coexisting with GERD on the daily life and QOL of such patients were compared.

Methods

A total of 113 newly diagnosed patients who visited our hospital with typical GERD symptoms were assessed using the modified frequency scale for the symptoms of GERD (MFSSG), gastroesophageal reflux and dyspepsia therapeutic efficacy and satisfaction test (GERD-TEST), and short-form 8-item health survey (SF-8) questionnaires. The “gastroesophageal reflux symptom” (7 items) and “dyspepsia symptom” (7 items) groups were divided into two “typical symptoms” and two “atypical symptoms” for a total of four categories. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used to evaluate the correlations between each symptom category and dissatisfaction for daily life [eating, sleeping, daily activities, mood, as well as dissatisfaction for daily life-symptom subscale (SS), which is the average of the four items in the GERD-TEST, the physical component summary [PCS] and mental component summary [MCS] of the SF-8, and the influence of each symptom category on the daily life and QOL.

Results

The incidences of each symptom category in patients with GERD were high: typical GERD (100%), atypical GERD symptoms (67.3%), typical functional dyspepsia (FD) (71.7%), and atypical FD (75.2%). Pearson’s correlation analysis demonstrated significant correlations between each symptom category and living status (dissatisfactions of eating, sleeping, daily activities, daily life-SS) and almost all items in SF-8 (PCS, MCS) (P < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis indicated the largest influences of each symptom category on living status and QOL in descending order: dissatisfaction for eating (atypical FD, typical FD), daily activities (atypical FD, typical FD, typical GERD), mood (atypical FD), daily life-SS (atypical FD, typical FD), PCS (typical FD), and MCS (atypical FD) (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Coexisting FD symptoms, particularly atypical FD symptoms, had a large influence on the impairments of daily life and decreases in QOL. Daily medical care of GERD requires attention to coexisting symptoms and their treatment instead of just focusing on the chief complaints by patients.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Funding

No financial support was obtained for this clinical study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isshi Gastro-Intestinal Clinic, 2-15-21, Shinozaki-cho, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, 133-0061, Japan

    Kimio Isshi, Hiroto Furuhashi, Akio Koizumi & Koji Nakada

  2. Department of Endoscopy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-15-8 Nishishinbashi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, 105-8461, Japan

    Kimio Isshi, Hiroto Furuhashi & Akio Koizumi

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-15-8 Nishishinbashi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, 105-8461, Japan

    Koji Nakada

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  1. Kimio Isshi
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  2. Hiroto Furuhashi
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Contributions

Isshi K. and Nakada K. contributed to data analysis and interpretation, writing the manuscript, and design of the study. All authors contributed to the interpretation of data.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kimio Isshi.

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Ethics Statement

This study was a single-center, retrospective study conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (sixth revision 2013), with the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Japan Medical association Ethical Review Board, Tokyo, Japan.

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Isshi, K., Furuhashi, H., Koizumi, A. et al. Effects of coexisting upper gastrointestinal symptoms on daily life and quality of life in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms. Esophagus 18, 684–692 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-020-00801-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-020-00801-1

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