title: Typical symptoms rather than extraesophageal symptoms affect the quality of life in gastroesophageal reflux disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, St Paul's Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Jung-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Byung-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Jie
authors.forename: Seung-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jin-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Myung-Gyu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires