Abstract
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is characterized by heartburn and related symptoms that are distressing to patients and interfere with everyday functioning and well-being. A measure of symptom distress, the GERD Symptom Assessment Scale (GSAS), was included in two randomized, placebo-controlled trials of rabeprazole among patients with nonerosive GERD. The age (mean ± SD) of the 223 patients was 43.5 ± 11.9 years, and most were female (67%) and Caucasian (78%). Significantly greater reductions in symptom distress were observed among patients receiving rabeprazole 20 mg daily for 4 weeks relative to those receiving placebo (−0.62 vs −0.36, P < 0.0001). The magnitude of this treatment difference was comparable to the differences observed between levels of overall symptom improvement on the patient global rating (0.2 and 0.3 points; P < 0.0001). In conclusion, reducing symptom distress is an important goal of therapeutic interventions for GERD. Rabeprazole significantly reduced the distress associated with a broad range of GERD symptoms, and the magnitude of this effect was meaningful to patients.
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Damiano, A., Siddique, R., Xu, X. et al. Reductions in Symptom Distress Reported by Patients with Moderately Severe, Nonerosive Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Treated with Rabeprazole. Dig Dis Sci 48, 657–662 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022812103923
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022812103923