Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Mar;30(3):364-70.
doi: 10.1016/s0399-8320(06)73189-x.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease in primary care. Prevalence, epidemiology and Quality of Life of patients

Stanislas Bruley Des Varannes  1 , Lizzie Marek, Benoist Humeau, Marc Lecasble, Raymond Colin
Affiliations
Free article

Gastroesophageal reflux disease in primary care. Prevalence, epidemiology and Quality of Life of patients

Stanislas Bruley Des Varannes et al. Gastroenterol Clin Biol. 2006 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Aim: To determine the prevalence of typical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease in a large group of patients consulting their general practitioners (GP) for diverse reasons, as well as the quality-of-life (QoL) of patients with such symptoms.

Patients and methods: During the same day, participating GPs (N=3 200) systematically asked all of their patients about the presence of heartburn and regurgitation. For all patients who responded positively, the GPs filled in a questionnaire and the patient a specific QoL questionnaire.

Results: Among 40 982 patients attending GP consultations, 4 124 (10.1%) had one or both symptoms. Prevalence was higher in men (11.1%) than in women (9.3%, P<0.001), and increased with age up to 50-59 yrs then slowly declined. Symptoms were present on a weekly basis in 72.8% of patients. Smoking, frequent or nocturnal occurrence of symptoms, regurgitation, and esophagitis were significantly linked up with a higher occurrence of extra-digestive symptoms (cough, ENT symptoms, chest pain). QoL declined with increasing frequency of symptoms, which especially affected food intake, psychology, well-being and daily life.

Conclusion: In France, typical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease are observed in 10% of the adult population, and markedly alter their QoL.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles