Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 8, 2025
Simultaneous Laryngopharyngeal and Conventional Esophageal pH Monitoring
Published on: December 14, 2020
Does omeprazole improve asthma-control in poorly-controlled asthmatic children with gastro-esophageal reflux
Abdelghani Yagoubi1, Youcef Laid2, Leila Smati3
1Centre Algerois de Pediatrie, Pediatric gastroenterology, Algiers, Algeria.
Insights
Treating gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) significantly improved asthma control in children. This study found GERD is common in poorly controlled asthma, and effective treatment offers benefits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is frequently implicated in poorly controlled asthma, but research findings are inconsistent.
- Asthma control remains a challenge in pediatric populations, necessitating exploration of contributing factors like GERD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of GERD treatment in enhancing asthma control among children.
- To determine the prevalence of GERD in children with poorly controlled asthma.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 102 children (4-16 years) with poorly controlled asthma.
- Acid reflux was assessed using pH monitoring; eligible patients with GERD received omeprazole for 6 months.
- Asthma control was measured using the Childhood Asthma Control Test score post-treatment.
Main Results:
- 59% of children with poorly controlled asthma had acid reflux, more prevalent in boys (p=0.04).
- Omeprazole treatment significantly improved asthma control in 84.8% of patients compared to 11.5% in the control group (p<0.0001).
- Male sex, normal birth weight, and positive Prick-test were associated with improved asthma control, though not consistently in multivariate analysis.
Conclusions:
- This study confirms a high prevalence of GER in pediatric patients with poorly controlled asthma.
- Effective treatment for GER demonstrates potential benefits for improving asthma control in children.
Objectives:
The role of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in poorly controlled asthma is often mentioned, but published studies have presented discordant results. Our main objective was to assess the effectiveness of GERD treatment in controlling asthma in children.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective study including poorly controlled asthmatic children aged 4 to 16 years. We checked the presence of acid reflux using pH monitoring. Patients with GERD were randomized into two groups; one received omeprazole for 6 months and the control group was not treated. The outcome was the score of the children asthma control test at the end of 6 months. The acid suppression was checked at the end of treatment with pH monitoring. After treatment, children with persistent acid reflux received high PPI doses and therefore were reevaluated 6 months later.
Results:
We included 102 children with poorly controlled asthma among which 59 (57.8%) had acid reflux. Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) was significantly more common in boys (p = 0.04). Treatment with omeprazole in sufficient doses improved the control of asthma in 5 children out of 6 (84.8 vs 11.5; p<.0001). Three factors appeared to be statistically associated with asthma control improvement after PPI therapy: male sex (p=.04), normal birth weight (p=.05) and a positive Prick-test (p=.05). These factors were not confirmed or were not sufficiently precise in multivariate analysis. The likelihood of a causal relationship between acid reflux and asthma, difficult to highlight with pH monitoring, was poor.
Conclusions:
This study confirmed the high prevalence of GER in poorly controlled asthmatic children and showed the possible benefit of an efficient GER treatment in improving asthma control.
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