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Updated: Oct 3, 2025
Simultaneous Laryngopharyngeal and Conventional Esophageal pH Monitoring
Published on: December 14, 2020
Can subjective symptoms predict objective findings in gastroesophageal reflux disease patients?
Madeline Rasmussen1,2, Steven G Leeds3,4, Marc A Ward1,2,5
1Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Introduction:
Medical therapy is the first-line treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease, but surgical options are available and shown to be effective when medical management fails. There is no consensus for when a surgical evaluation is indicated. We set out to determine if the GERD-HRQL questionnaire scores correlate to objective findings found in patients undergoing anti-reflux surgery to predict when surgical consultation could be warranted.
Methods:
A prospectively gathered database was used for patients undergoing anti-reflux surgery from January 2014 to September 2020. Inclusion criteria required a diagnosis of GERD and comprehensive esophageal workup with the GERD-HRQL questionnaire, EGD, esophageal manometry, and ambulatory pH monitoring. Analysis of the GERD-HRQL scores was compared to objective endpoints to see correlation and predictability. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess relationship between the presence of objective findings and GERD-HRQL questionnaire scores.
Results:
There were 246 patients meeting inclusion criteria. There was no significant correlation between GERD-HRQL score and DeMeester score (correlation coefficient = 0.23), or presence of a hiatal hernia, regardless of size (p = 0.89). Patients with esophagitis had significantly higher average GERD-HRQL scores compared to those without esophagitis (40.1 ± 18.9 vs 30.4 ± 19.1, p < 0.0001). Patients with a score of 40 or greater had a 42% to 65% probability of having esophagitis versus a score of 30 or less, lowering the chances of having esophagitis to less than 35%.
Conclusion:
Usage of a GERD-HRQL questionnaire score can potentially show the correlation between subjective and objective findings in the workup of a patient for anti-reflux surgery. Specifically, patients with a GERD-HRQL score of 40 or greater have an increased probability of esophagitis compared to those with a score of 30 or less. Using these scores can help referring clinicians identify those patients failing medical therapy and allow for prompt referral for surgical evaluation.
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