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. 2017:2017:1214584.
doi: 10.1155/2017/1214584. Epub 2017 Jun 1.

Pictograms to Provide a Better Understanding of Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptoms in Chinese Subjects

Wei Zhao  1 , Hong Jin  1 , Lili Zhang  1 , Bin Wang  1 , Fangyuan Sun  1 , Huanli Jiao  2 , Chao Sun  1 , Bangmao Wang  1
Affiliations

Pictograms to Provide a Better Understanding of Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptoms in Chinese Subjects

Wei Zhao et al. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2017.

Abstract

Objective: To explore whether pictograms could help people understand reflux symptoms.

Methods: Gastroenterologists (n = 28), non-GI physicians (n = 30), healthy people without medical education (n = 34), patients with gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) (n = 45), and general people (n = 100) were included. Pictograms denoting classic reflux symptoms (sour regurgitation, heartburn, retrosternal pain, and regurgitation) were created by the joint efforts of an artist and a gastroenterologist. The subjects were asked to tell the meaning of each card within 30 s.

Results: Compared with the physicians, healthy people without medical education tended to make mistakes in the understanding of the terms of reflux symptoms. Among GERD patients, all the terms of reflux symptoms could be understood accurately. Compared with that of non-GI physicians, GI physician had a higher accuracy in the understanding of the term regurgitation (P < 0.05). Pictograms denoting reflux symptoms could be understood accurately in all four groups. A sample from the general population showed that the recognition of the pictogram was more accurate than the recognition of the terms.

Conclusions: Pictograms could help ordinary people who do not have medical education to understand reflux symptoms more accurately in China. Compared with abstract terms, pictograms could be useful for epidemiological studies and diagnosis of GERD in the community.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pictograms denoting the classic gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. Pictograms denoting reflux symptoms were created by the joint efforts of an artist and a gastroenterologist specialized in GERD. (a) Pictogram denoting regurgitation, the feeling of the flowing back of stomach contents. (b) Pictogram denoting sour regurgitation, the feeling of acidic stomach content flowing into the pharynx and mouth. (c) Pictogram denoting heartburn, the feeling of burn behind the breastbone. (d) Pictogram denoting retrosternal pain, the feeling of pain behind the breastbone and above the xiphoid. (e)–(h) Cards with the terms of the GERD symptoms.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Difference in the accuracy of the understanding the terms of reflux symptoms among the groups. ∗P < 0.05 among the groups, chi-square test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Accuracy of understanding classic reflux symptoms in physicians. ∗P < 0.05 compared with that in the GI department, Fisher's exact test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Influence of pictograms on understanding classic reflux symptoms in people without medical background in community. Fisher's exact test: ∗P < 0.05, compared with the terms; #P < 0.01 compared with the terms.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Evaluation of pictograms on the understanding of classic reflux symptoms. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the GERD patients, Fisher's exact test.
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