ReQuest: new dimensions in the assessment and management of GERD

The wide spectrum of symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and the high prevalence of endoscopy-negative GERD denote the need for a robust, validated questionnaire for symptom assessment in GERD patients. The Reflux Questionnaire ReQuest(TM) meets these criteria and was designed as a simple and effective method for patients' daily self-assessment of GERD symptoms. It is divided into seven dimensions: general well-being; acid complaints; upper abdominal/stomach complaints; lower abdominal/digestive complaints; nausea; sleep disturbances; and other complaints. A short version, which can be completed in less than 5 minutes, is solely oriented on the seven dimensions, while the long version, which takes approximately 20 minutes, asks additionally for the occurrence of symptom descriptions typical to the corresponding dimension. Both tests have undergone clinical trial evaluation and statistical analysis confirming their internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity and responsiveness to changes during treatment. The short and the long version have both been shown to have similarly high treatment sensitivity as well as reliability, and validity. Furthermore, ReQuest(TM) fulfills the criteria set by the regulatory authorities for a validated symptom-based system for use as the primary outcome measure in clinical trials of GERD therapy.