Quality of life in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease in an Iranian population

AIM: The study was designed to evaluate quality of life (QOL) for Iranian patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). BACKGROUND: GERD is a common and chronic world-wide disease. Impact of GERD on QOL has been studied in many countries, but it has not been studied in Iranian population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty five patients suffering from GERD and fifty five age and sex matched controls were enrolled. Patient inclusion criteria were based on clinical and endoscopic findings. All other major diseases having an impact on QOL had been excluded. All the subjects were asked to fill the validated translation of SF-36 and GHQ-28 questionnaires. Results of the SF-36 questionnaire was analyzed directly and after correction for the results obtained from the GHQ-28 tool. RESULTS: GERD patients had lower QOL scores than controls. Correction of the results based the findings of GHQ-28 questionnaire did not change the results. CONCLUSION: QOL in GERD patients is impaired and should be considered in clinical practice and implementing research studies upon GERD patients.