QUALITY-OF-LIFE ASSESSMENT IN REFLUX DISEASE

The recognition of heartburn and acid regurgitation as manifestations of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), and the suppression of th ese symptoms with therapy, represent an over-simplistic approach to th e reflux patient. For GORD, as for other gastrointestinal disorders, i t is evident that many patients suffer a greater impairment of well-be ing than has been appreciated hitherto, and that this impairment can b e quantified using modern quality of life measuring techniques, Succes sful treatment normalizes quality of life in a manner which is substan tially, but not wholly, predictable from symptom responses or the heal ing of oesophagitis, These observations raise the possibility that phy sicians' therapeutic intentions do not always match the patients' wish es. The appraisal of health status, or quality of life (QOL), is incre asingly important in defining the implications of disease and for asse ssing the outcome of therapy. Hitherto, QOL evaluations have seemed re levant to circumstances of major physical disability and for patients receiving potentially unpleasant treatments, such as cancer chemothera py, but it is now evident that QOL evaluation has much wider applicabi lity, including relevance to common gastrointestinal disorders such as GORD, Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 10:451-454 (C) 1998 Lippincott-Rave n Publishers.