Comparison of gastrooesophageal reflux disease and heartburn diagnoses in UK primary care.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2006;22 (6): 1661-68
ABSTRACT
Research design and methods: Data from the UK General Practice Research Database were extracted for patients newly diagnosed with heartburn (n = 1841) or GORD (n = 5318) in 1996.
Main outcome measures: Patient characteristics, morbidity, healthcare use and prescribed treatments were compared using unconditional logistic regression analysis.
Results: GORD was diagnosed more frequently than heartburn (3.2 vs. 1.1 per 1000 patient-years). A diagnosis of GORD was less likely among females (odds ratio (OR): 0.8; confidence interval (CI): 0.7#0.9), smokers (OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7#0.9) and patients who consulted their physician frequently (OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7#0.9). There was a wide distribution in the ratio of GORD-to-heartburn diagnoses between primary care practices (mean 2.9; range 0##).GORD patients were more likely to receive proton pump inhibitors (OR: 2.9; CI: 2.6#3.4), but 24% of GORD patients and 40% of heartburn patients received no acidsuppressive treatment in the month after diagnosis.
Conclusions: Several factors influenced the diagnosis of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms by primary care physicians. Further research is needed to aid the diagnosis of GORD in primary care.
Objective: It is unclear how gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is diagnosed in primary care. The aim of this study is to compare patients given a diagnosis of GORD with those diagnosed with heartburn.