Correlation between the reflux finding score and the GERD impact scale in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

ABSTRACT

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a very common disorder. As there is no gold standard diagnostic tool, patient-based strategy is adopted in clinical practice. In this regard, there are questionnaires able to easily and rapidly assess symptom severity directly by the patient. The GERD Impact Scale (GIS) and the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) have been validated as diagnostic tools in routine clinical care. The present study aimed to correlate RIS values with GIS scores in a large cohort of GERD patients visited at gastroenterological clinics. Globally, 785 subjects (51.2% males, 48.8% females, mean age 49.59 years) were visited in 56 Italian gastroenterological offices. The current study demonstrates that a GIS value >19 may be a reliable cut-off to define the positivity of the test, and GIS and RSI were significantly correlated. Therefore, both tests may be recommended for GERD patients in clinical practice.