Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 164, Number 1, July 2001, 72-76

Prevalence of Upper Respiratory Symptoms in Patients with Symptomatic Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

DEMETRIOS S. THEODOROPOULOS, DENNIS K. LEDFORD, RICHARD F. LOCKEY, DONNA L. PECORARO, JOHN A. RODRIGUEZ, MILTON C. JOHNSON, and H. WORTH BOYCE Jr.

Division of Allergy and Immunology, Joy McCann Culverhouse Airways Disease Research Center and Joy McCann Culverhouse Center for Swallowing Disorders, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine and James A. Haley Veterans' Medical Center, Tampa, Florida

This study evaluated the prevalence of upper respiratory symptoms (URS) among patients with symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Seventy-four subjects with heartburn completed a URS questionnaire before dual-probe, 24-h esophageal pH monitoring. The URS questionnaire was also completed by 74 normal volunteers without previous or current symptoms of GERD. Esophageal pH monitoring results were classified as normal, distal, or proximal and distal gastroesophageal reflux using standardized criteria. Mean URS scores (± SD) were 8.31 ± 3.98 in the 52 subjects with GERD and 4.57 ± 3.57 in the 22 subjects with negative pH probe studies, p = 0.02. Subjects with negative pH probe studies and normal volunteers scored similarly on the URS questionnaire. Reflux episodes/24 h correlated with URS scores, r = 0.47, p = 0.0001. Seventy-five percent of subjects with upper reflux, 68% of subjects with lower reflux, 36% of subjects with normal esophageal pH studies, and 9% of normal volunteers reported laryngeal symptoms for at least 5 d/mo. Sixty-nine percent of subjects with upper reflux, 50% of subjects with lower reflux, 31% of subjects with normal pH studies, and 14% of normal volunteers reported nasal symptoms for at least 5 d/mo. URS are frequent among subjects with GERD.

Keywords: rhinitis; upper airway; gastroesophageal reflux

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