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. 2023 May 8;9(6):FSO863.
doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2023-0042. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Gastroesophageal reflux in lockdown

Hafez Al-Momani  1 , Dua'a Al Balawi  2 , Muna Almasri  2 , Hadeel AlGhawrie  3 , Lujain Ibrahim  2 , Lena Adli  2 , Hadeel Al Balawi  2 , Sameer Al Haj Mahmoud  4
Affiliations

Gastroesophageal reflux in lockdown

Hafez Al-Momani et al. Future Sci OA. .

Abstract

Aim: This study examines the changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptom frequency among patients with GERD throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was distributed among 198 GERD patients. The questionnaire consisted of a demographic characteristic assessment, the GerdQ questionnaire, and a reflux symptom index (RSI) questionnaire.

Result & conclusion: A statistically significant increase in GerdQ score was identified among participants during the COVID-19 pandemic (t = 7.055, df = 209, p < 0.001), who had experienced an increase in the frequency of positive predictors of GERD and a decrease in the frequency of negative predictors of GERD. The COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdown countermeasures may have led to exacerbating and worsening GERD symptoms.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 lockdown; gastroesophageal reflux; gastroesophageal reflux disease; gastrointestinal system.

Plain language summary

There is a lack of decisive research into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown countermeasures on patients with GERD. We investigated the changes in symptomatic frequency among GERD patients in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study involving 198 GERD patients. A statistically significant number of participants experienced an increase in the frequency of positive predictors of GERD, and a decrease in the frequency of negative predictors of GERD. In addition, the impacts of GERD itself were also found to have increased during the pandemic, with patients struggling to sleep or attain additional medication to treat their condition.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. The difference between GerdQ scores reported by patients prior to COVID-19 and those reported during COVID-19.
****p-value < 0.0001.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. A comparison of patient responses to different items of GerdQ scoring prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The x-axis represents the frequency of items in terms of days per week. The y-axis represents the number of patients reporting each item.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Reflux symptom index score and its correlation with GerdQ score among the patients cohort.
(A) RSI score among the participants, median = 7.0 with mean ± SD = 16.3 ± 11.4. (B) Correlation between the RSI and GerdQ scores among participants (R = 0.49, 95% CI (0.38 to 0.59), p < 0.0001). RSI: Reflux symptom index; SD: Standard deviation.
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