Gastroesophageal reflux disease (
GERD) is common in patients with many
chronic diseases, but has not been well recognized in
rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated the prevalence of
GERD symptoms in 278 outpatients with RA and their association with such clinical factors as age, sex, height,
weight, body mass index, medications drugs, and functional status evaluated by the Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (
MHAQ).
GERD symptoms were evaluated by Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of
GERD (FSSG). The mean FSSG score for all patients was 5.6, and 82 patients were considered to have
GERD symptoms (FSSG score ≥8), thus the overall prevalence of
GERD symptoms was 29.5%.
MHAQ score and height were significantly higher and lower, respectively, and
prednisolone usage was significantly more in the patients with
GERD symptoms than those without. These three clinical factors were also significantly associated with
GERD symptoms by univariate logistic regression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that
MHAQ was the only clinical factor related to
GERD symptoms. In conclusion, the prevalence of
GERD symptoms in RA patients was high and strongly associated with decreased functional status, suggesting that physicians should pay attention to
GERD symptoms in RA management, especially for patients with low functional status.