title: The prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux in the English population.
abstract: Although symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms are commonly seen in the ENT clinic, their aetiology and prevalence in the population remain unknown. Lifestyle changes have been seen to be effective in symptom relief. We aimed to establish the prevalence of these symptoms and identify any associated factors. Pseudo-random sampling was performed on 2,000 adults that were sent a validated questionnaire containing the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and questions on their health and lifestyle. 45.8 % of the 378 responders were male. The mean RSI was 8.3. 30 % had an RSI of more than 10, of which 75 % had symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (r = 0.646 at p = 0.01). Patients with depression and irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to have LPR symptoms. LPR symptoms are highly prevalent in the community and may be influenced significantly by the presence of gastro-oesophageal reflux, depression and irritable bowel syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK. tawakirkamani@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tawakir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamani
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Penney
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pothula
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D057045:Laryngopharyngeal Reflux / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult