Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of airways and associated with airway hyperresponsiveness and reversible bronchoconstriction. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a disorder caused by the reflux of gastric content up into the esophagus. It has been proposed that GERD is one of the exacerbating factors in the patients with poor controlled asthma.
Objective: Determine the prevalence of GERD in asthmatic patients and the association between GERD and the level of asthma control in Thailand.
Material and method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 56 asthmatic patients at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. They were performed twenty-four-hour esophageal pH monitoring.
Results: The prevalence of GERD in Thai asthmatic patients was 37.50%. Fifteen of 21 patients (71.43%) with GERD experienced reflux symptoms. The sensitivity specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of reflux symptoms for diagnosis GERD were 71.43%, 77.14%, 65.22% and 81.82%, respectively. The prevalence of GERD was higher in uncontrolled asthmatic patients than partly controlled and controlled subjects. Among uncontrolled asthma, the prevalence of GERD was higher than those without GERD (57.17% and 25.72%, respectively, p = 0.028). Asthma Control Test (ACT) score of less than twenty (poor controlled asthma) was higher in the asthmatic patients with GERD than those without GERD (80.95% and 48.57%, respectively, p = 0.024).
Conclusion: The authors concluded that the prevalence of GERD in Thai asthmatic patients was 37.50%. There was significant association between GERD and the level of asthma control.