Comparison of Daily versus Weekly Recording of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms in Patients with a Partial Response to Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy

Abstract

BackgroundThe Reflux Symptom Questionnaire electronic Diary (RESQ-eD) and the Reflux Symptom Questionnaire 7-day recall (RESQ-7) are versions of a patient-reported outcome instrument that was developed and validated for measuring the frequency and intensity of symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who have a partial response to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. ObjectiveThe aim of these analyses was to assess the ability of the RESQ-7 to reproduce findings based on RESQ-eD reports of the same symptoms. MethodsThese analyses are based on data from patients with GERD with a partial response to PPI (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00703534). Participants completed the RESQ-eD twice daily for 7 days and the RESQ-7 on day 7. ResultsData from 446 patients were available for these analyses. Symptom-level analyses showed that, for intensity, mean domain scores were higher for the RESQ-7 (range 1.49–2.72) than for the RESQ-eD (range 1.45–2.57); for frequency, scores were lower for the RESQ-7 (range 2.58–4.82) than for the RESQ-eD (range 4.22–6.24). Correspondence analyses of RESQ-7 and RESQ-eD mean domain scores indicated excellent agreement for intensity (correlation-concordance coefficient 0.77–0.83) and fair agreement for frequency (correlation-concordance coefficient 0.40–0.58). Mean RESQ-eD subscale intensity scores for GERD symptoms were higher for symptoms experienced during the daytime than for those occurring at nighttime. Symptom recall was not associated with peak or recency effects. ConclusionsPatients with GERD slightly overestimated the intensity of their reflux symptoms and markedly underestimated the frequency on weekly recall compared with twice-daily reporting.