Link between pharyngeal acid reflux episodes and the effectiveness of proton pump inhibitor therapy

Table 2 Primary and secondary outcomes

Outcome	PAR1 alone (n = 11)	EAR2 alone (n = 68)	Both pH (+) (n = 18)	Both pH (-) (n = 93)	P value (4-group comparison)
Week 4
Symptom improvement, median (IQR)	40 (5, 70)3	30 (0, 60)4	30 (0, 40)5	0 (0, 30)	0.001
≥ 50% improvement, n (%)	5 (45)	28 (41)4	4 (22)	19 (20)	0.02
Change of the GERDyzer total score, median (IQR)	-11 (-21, -3)	-14 (-26, -1)4	-9 (-19, -4)	-5 (-12, 0)	0.02
Week 8
Symptom improvement, median (IQR)	70 (20, 80)3	50 (30, 80)4	35 (0, 60)	20 (0, 50)	0.0007
≥ 50% improvement, n (%)	8 (73)3	40 (59)4	7 (39)	31 (33)	0.003
Change of the GERDyzer total score, median (IQR)	-23 (-39, -13)3	-18 (-28, -1)4	-18 (-23, -10)	-8 (-16, 0)	0.006
Week 12
Symptom improvement, median (IQR)	85 (20, 99)3	60 (10, 85)4	50 (0, 90)	30 (0, 60)	0.002
≥ 50% improvement, n (%)	8 (73)3	40 (59)4	10 (56)	31 (33)	0.003
Change of the GERDyzer total score, median (IQR)	-26 (-28, -19)3	-20 (-30, -3)4	-16 (-26, -8)	-9 (-18, -1)	0.01

¹Excessive pharyngeal acid reflux is defined as pharyngeal acid reflux ≥ 2 episodes.

²Excessive distal esophageal acid reflux is defined as distal esophageal acid reflux total time ≥ 4.2% of 24-hour, or ≥ 6.3% of upright position, or ≥ 1.2% of supine position.

³P < 0.05 for pharyngeal acid reflux alone vs both pH (-).

⁴P < 0.05 for esophageal acid reflux alone vs both pH (-).

⁵P < 0.05 for both pH (+) vs both pH (-).

EAR: Esophageal acid reflux; GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; IQR: Interquartile range; PAR: Pharyngeal acid reflux; pH: Potential of hydrogen.