title: The prevalence of upper respiratory symptoms in a cohort of adults presenting with symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is the pathological reflux of gastric contents into the oesophagus. The oesophagus and the upper respiratory tract have a common origin from the foregut. There is increasing evidence for multiple associations of GORD with the upper respiratory tract.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the presence of and association of upper respiratory symptoms (URS) with GORD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy adults scoring ≥12.5 on a previously validated GORD symptom score (GORD patients) and 70 healthy controls who had infrequent GORD symptoms or no upper gastro-intestinal complaints completed a pre-tested URS questionnaire on the frequency of 14 URS in 5 categories (laryngeal, nasal, pharyngeal, sinusal and aural). All GORD patients underwent upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy. The calculated URS score was correlated against the GORD symptom score and endoscopy findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  URS scores and individual symptom scores were higher in GORD patients compared to controls (mean ± SE, 4.7 ± 4.0; 1.9 ± 2.3). Individuals with higher GORD symptom scores reported more frequent URS. Pharyngeal symptoms had the highest correlation with the GORD symptom score (r=0.507, p<0.001). The presence of oeso-phagitis did not seem to influence the frequency of reporting URS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Upper respiratory symptoms are common in individuals with GORD symptoms though there appears to be no association with oesophageal mucosal damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. lakmaliamarasiri@gmail.com.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Amarasiri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pathmeswaran
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Dassanayake
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: de Silva
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Adikari
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sanjeewa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jayaratne
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: de Silva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods