Background/aims: Compared with the general population, the quality of life of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease has been known to be impaired. The aim of this study was to assess and compare how typical esophageal symptoms and extraesophageal symptoms affect quality of life.
Materials and methods: This study was performed in patients who had visited the Health Promotion Center of St. Paul's Hospital and undergone an endoscopy. Two instruments were used to assess quality of life: a questionnaire on the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease and the Korean version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, Abbreviated Version. For comparison purposes, data from an age-matched healthy control group were obtained.
Results: In this study, 262 health check-up subjects were classified with gastroesophageal reflux disease. An additional 447 health check-up subjects, who had shown normal and asymptomatic results from endoscopy, were assigned to the control group. The quality of life in gastroesophageal reflux disease patients was lower than that of the control group (81.7 vs. 87.5, p < 0.05). Compared to the group with asymptomatic erosive reflux disease and the control group, the quality of life was also lower in the group that manifestedboth typical symptoms and extraesophageal symptoms (79.9 vs. 84.5, p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the quality of life was lower in the group with typical symptoms than in the group with extraesophageal symptoms (79.6 vs. 87.5, p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Regardless of whether the esophagitis was erosive or non-erosive, the quality of life was deteriorated to a greater extent in symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease patients than in the control group, and the quality of life was even lower among patientswho had typical symptoms than among patients with extraesophageal manifestations.