Characteristics of non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease refractory to proton pump inhibitor therapy

Table 1 Frequency scale for the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease

	Question	Never	Occasionally	Sometimes	Often	Always
1	Do you get heartburn?	0	1	2	3	4
2	Does your stomach get bloated?	0	1	2	3	4
3	Does your stomach ever feel heavy after meals?	0	1	2	3	4
4	Do you sometimes subconsciously rub your chest with your hand?	0	1	2	3	4
5	Do you ever feel sick after meals?	0	1	2	3	4
6	Do you get heartburn after meals?	0	1	2	3	4
7	Do you have an unusual (e.g. burning) sensation in your throat?	0	1	2	3	4
8	Do you feel full while eating meals?	0	1	2	3	4
9	Do some things get stuck when you swallow?	0	1	2	3	4
10	Do you get bitter liquid (acid) coming up into your throat?	0	1	2	3	4
11	Do you burp a lot?	0	1	2	3	4
12	Do you get heartburn if you bend over?	0	1	2	3	4

Patients were asked to score each question as never = 0; occasionally = 1; sometimes = 2; often = 3; or always = 4. In the frequency scale for the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (FSSG) , there are seven acid-reflux-related symptoms (questions 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12), and five dysmotility-like symptoms (questions 2, 3, 5, 8 and 11). The acid reflux, dysmotility and total scores (acid reflux and dysmotility scores) were calculated, and a total score of ≥ 8 was considered to indicate probable GERD/NERD.

Table 2 Demographic characteristics of subjects with non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease

		Grade n	Grade M	Total	P value
Number		3	7	10
Age		22.3 ± 5.8	22.1 ± 0.7	22.2 ± 0.6	0.73
Height		159.7 ± 3.2	156.7 ± 8.3	157.6 ± 7.0	0.31
Weight		52.2 ± 2.5	52.7 ± 6.0	52.6 ± 5.0	0.91
CYP2C19	RM/IM/PM	1/2/0	3/2/2002	5/2/2003	0.41
24 h pH	Gastric pH	2.6 (2.6-2.6)	2.4 (1.5-2.8)	2.5 (1.5-2.8)	0.31
	Esophageal pH	6.6 (6.4-7.6)	6.6 (6.4-7.5)	6.6 (6.4-7.6)	0.75
FSSG		19 (15-24)	22 (19-31)	21 (15-31)	0.3

Age, height, body weight and height are given as mean ± SD. Twenty-four hour pH and frequency scale for the symptoms of gastroesophageal (FSSG) score are given as median (range). RM: Rapid metabolizer; IM: Intermediate metabolizer; PM: Poor metabolizer.