Accounting for the effect of GERD symptoms on patients’ health-related quality of life: supporting optimal disease management by primary care physicians

Abstract

AimTo review, from a primary care physician (PCP) perspective, the use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments for assessment of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms, their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL) and the effectiveness of therapy.ResultsWhile generic and disease-specific PRO instruments have been used in the assessment of GERD, the latter can be considered to be more appropriate as they focus only on problems relevant to the disease in question (and therefore tend to be more responsive to change). Such instruments include the Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia (QOLRAD) questionnaire and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale and the Reflux Disease Questionnaire (RDQ). Their use indicates that GERD symptoms are troublesome and significantly reduce patients’ HRQL, and that effective treatment of GERD improves HRQL. The GERD Impact Scale (GIS) questionnaire, primarily developed for use within primary care, can also help to determine the impact of symptoms on patients’ everyday lives and, in turn, the benefit of appropriately targeted therapy. Notably, these PRO instruments were developed from focus groups of GERD patients, and only aspects rated of highest importance are used in the final instruments. Consequently, PCPs can feel confident that these questionnaires encompass the most relevant points that they are likely to ask in terms of how symptoms affect patients’ everyday lives.ConclusionsPrimary care physicians are encouraged to make wider use of PRO instruments within routine practice to improve communication with their GERD patients that, in turn, could lead to improved clinical outcomes and greater patient satisfaction.Review CriteriaWe conducted a review of validated patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments used in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD), based on the authors’ expertise in the field and a supplementary MEDLINE search with the terms ‘health-related quality of life’, ‘quality of life questionnaire’, ‘patient-reported outcomes’, ‘patient satisfaction’ and ‘gastro-oesophageal reflux disease’.We reviewed papers reporting health-related quality of life (HRQL) data in patients with GERD, including the effect of GERD on HRQL, treatment efficacy and HRQL, patient satisfaction and physician-patient agreement, to help primary care physicians to incorporate PRO instruments into their day-to-day management of patients with GERD.Message for the ClinicAn evidence-based review shows that PRO instruments can accurately assess the nature of GERD symptoms, their impact on HRQL and the efficacy of treatment.Primary care physicians are encouraged to make wider use of PRO instruments as part of their management of patients with GERD, given that such questionnaires can facilitate patient communication and help physicians understand and satisfy the therapeutic needs of their patients.Among validated PRO instruments, the GERD Impact Scale represents a practical tool that is easy for primary care physicians to incorporate into their everyday practice.