To what extent does the assessment of typical and atypical troublesome symptoms accurately reflect an objective diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease?

Key Points

• This research focuses on the relationship between symptom assessment and accurate diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
• Assessment of typical and atypical symptoms in referred patients
• Objective confirmation of gastroesophageal reflux disease diagnosis
• Only 29% of referred patients had objectively confirmed GERD
• GERD was identified in about half of patients with isolated typical symptoms
• One-third of patients with both typical and atypical symptoms had GERD
• Fewer than one-fifth of isolated atypical symptoms indicated GERD