Xu DD. Effect of comorbid gastroesophageal reflux disease on laryngopharyngeal reflux disease: Clinical characteristics and risk factors. World J Gastrointest Surg 2025; 17(9): 108715 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i9.108715]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dan-Dan Xu, MM, Attending Physician, Department of Otolaryngology, Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, No. 1 Kangning Middle Road, Shifeng Subdistrict, Taizhou 317200, Zhejiang Province, China. loveent512@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Surg. Sep 27, 2025; 17(9): 108715 Published online Sep 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i9.108715
Effect of comorbid gastroesophageal reflux disease on laryngopharyngeal reflux disease: Clinical characteristics and risk factors
Dan-Dan Xu
Dan-Dan Xu, Department of Otolaryngology, Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Taizhou 317200, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Xu DD designed the study and were involved in the data acquisition, writing of this article, and the analysis of the manuscript, read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author who has taken part in this study have nothing to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dan-Dan Xu, MM, Attending Physician, Department of Otolaryngology, Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, No. 1 Kangning Middle Road, Shifeng Subdistrict, Taizhou 317200, Zhejiang Province, China. loveent512@163.com
Received: May 30, 2025 Revised: June 25, 2025 Accepted: August 1, 2025 Published online: September 27, 2025 Processing time: 117 Days and 4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Research thoroughly examining how gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects clinical presentations in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) and exploring the associated triggers is limited.
AIM
To investigate the effect of comorbid GERD on the clinical characteristics of patients with LPRD and determine risk contributors.
METHODS
In total, 150 patients with LPRD admitted between October 2022 and October 2024 were divided into the GERD (n = 74) or non-GERD (n = 76) group based on their comorbid GERD status. The clinical data collected included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, and eating habits in the 3-hour window before sleep. The following reflux-related symptoms were recorded: (1) Hoarseness/voice disorders; (2) Persistent throat clearing; (3) Excessive phlegm/postnasal drip; (4) Difficulty swallowing food or water; (5) Postprandial or supine coughing; (6) Breathing difficulties; (7) Bothersome cough; (8) Throat foreign body sensation; (9) Heartburn, chest pain; and (10) Stomach pain. The Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and Reflux Finding Score (RFS) tools were used. Binary logistic regression identified contributors to GERD in LPRD.
RESULTS
Compared with the non-GERD group, the GERD group, with a notably higher BMI, included greater proportions of older patients, female patients, smokers, and alcohol users and a higher prevalence of bothersome cough, heartburn, chest pain, and stomach pain; however, excessive phlegm or postnasal drip was less common. Additionally, patients with LPRD and comorbid GERD had notably higher RSI and RFS scores. Age (P = 0.017), sex (P = 0.029), smoking (P = 0.012), and alcohol consumption (P = 0.036) were significant triggers for GERD comorbidity in LPRD.
CONCLUSION
Comorbid GERD exacerbates clinical manifestations of patients with LPRD. Advanced age, female sex, smoking, and alcohol consumption predispose patients with LPRD to GERD development.
Core Tip: This study enrolled 150 patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) and stratified them by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) status (GERD group, n = 74; non-GERD group, n = 76) to assess the influence of GERD comorbidity on clinical manifestations while identifying possible risk determinants. GERD comorbidity significantly worsened symptoms in patients with LPRD, increased in flux event episodes, and aggravated flux severity. The independent risk factors included advanced age, female sex, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
