title: Prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms: comparison between health checkup examinees and patients with otitis media.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms in health checkup examinees and in patients with otitis media with effusion (OME) of undetermined etiology and the significance of age, body mass index (BMI), and pepsinogen (PG) concentration in middle ear effusions (MEEs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health checkup and private clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 410 subjects who had undergone a health checkup were asked to respond to the reflux symptom index (RSI) to identify the distribution of the RSI score, and the results were compared with 62 patients with OME by BMI and PG concentration in the MEEs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RSI-positive (score >13) rate was 7.1% in the health checkup examinees. The highest rate was observed in men in their 40s, who had the highest average BMI. None of the men in their 80s were RSI positive. The RSI-positive rate in patients with OME was 21.0%. None of the male patients ≥ 70 years of age were RSI positive, whereas the average PG concentration was significantly higher in this group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of LPR symptoms evaluated by the RSI was significantly higher in OME patients than in the health checkup examinees; however, a similar pattern in which LPR symptoms were prominent in middle-aged men with a high BMI and much less in elderly men was observed. Middle-aged men with a high BMI might be diagnosed as having LPR disease based on the relevant symptoms. LPR findings would be more sensitive than symptoms in elderly men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. michsone@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Toshinari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Izawa
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamajima
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057045:Laryngopharyngeal Reflux / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires