Faculty Collaboration Database

Review article: impact of night-time reflux on lifestyle - unrecognized issues in reflux disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2004 Dec;20 Suppl 9:3-13

Date

11/06/2004

Pubmed ID

15527460

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2036.2004.02237.x

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-10644264331 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   25 Citations

Abstract

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD), manifesting with symptoms including heartburn and regurgitation, affects people during both daytime and nocturnal hours. Night-time GERD has been reported to have a greater impact on a patient's life than daytime GERD due to prolonged oesophageal acid exposure time per reflux episode. To further understand this issue, it is important to implement quality of life (QOL) measures. QOL studies are becoming increasingly important to physicians in making clinical decisions, and generic and disease-specific health-related QOL (HRQL) tools have been developed to measure a wide variety of topics. There are currently no universally accepted guidelines on how to best measure HRQL in GERD patients. It is important to note that these surveys may not yield accurate results because many GERD sufferers may feel that their symptoms are not serious enough to seek treatment. Some surveys include the GERD-HRQL assessment, the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Gallup survey. When compared with daytime GERD patients, night-time GERD patients may suffer from sleep deprivation, which in turn leads to physical and emotional problems and a poor overall QOL. Studies indicate that the prevalence and impact of night-time heartburn have been underestimated and that adequate treatment of symptoms is often not achieved. In addition, GERD greatly affects work productivity and leads to a significant economic burden on society. Although limited studies are available on the impact of pharmacological treatment on GERD QOL, recent findings indicate that proton pump inhibitors are more effective than H(2)-receptor antagonists for the improvement of overall QOL.

Author List

Shaker R, Brunton S, Elfant A, Golopol L, Ruoff G, Stanghellini V

Author

Reza Shaker MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Absenteeism
Activities of Daily Living
Attitude of Health Personnel
Attitude to Health
Circadian Rhythm
Employment
Gastroesophageal Reflux
Humans
Life Style
Quality of Life
Sleep Wake Disorders