Quality of life in patients with heartburn but without esophagitis: Effects of treatment with omeprazole

OBJECTIVE: Because improvement in quality of life (QoL) is an important the rapeutic goal in patients with heartburn but without esophagitis, the aim o f the present study was to compare the impact of omeprazole 20 mg or 10 mg daily with that of placebo on QoL in patients with heartburn as the predomi nant symptom. METHODS: QoL was measured at baseline and after 4 wk using two validated qu estionnaires, the Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index and the Gas trointestinal Symptom Rating Scale. RESULTS: The two questionnaires were completed by 163 patients in the omepr azole 20 mg group, 163 in the omeprazole 10 mg group, and 82 in the placebo group. The reflux dimension of the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale s howed a significant improvement in terms of reflux symptoms on omeprazole 2 0 mg versus omeprazole 10 mg and placebo, and on omeprazole 10 mg compared with placebo. The total score of the PGWB index improved significantly more on both doses of omeprazole than on placebo. The mean scores rose from 96. 8 to 103.9 on omeprazole 20 mg, from 98.4 to 106.0 on omeprazole 10 mg, and from 98.0 to 100.6 on placebo. All dimensions of the PGWB index improved o n treatment with omeprazole, but the improvements were most pronounced in t he dimensions depicting anxiety, depressed mood, and self-control. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that treatment with omeprazole 20 mg and omepr azole 10 mg restores QoL to a level comparable with that observed in a heal thy population. (Am J Gastroenterol 1999;94:1782-1789. (C) 1999 by Am. Coll . of Gastroenterology).