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Reductions in symptom distress reported by patients with moderately severe, nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease treated with rabeprazole.

Author(s): Damiano A, Siddique R, Xu X, Johanson J, Sloan S

Affiliation(s): Covance Health Economics and Outcomes Services Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, USA.

Publication date & source: 2003-04, Dig Dis Sci., 48(4):657-62.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Evaluation Studies; Randomized Controlled Trial

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is characterized by heartburn and related symptoms that are distressing to patients and interfere with everyday functioning and well-being. A measure of symptom distress, the GERD Symptom Assessment Scale (GSAS), was included in two randomized, placebo-controlled trials of rabeprazole among patients with nonerosive GERD. The age (mean +/- SD) of the 223 patients was 43.5 +/- 11.9 years, and most were female (67%) and Caucasian (78%). Significantly greater reductions in symptom distress were observed among patients receiving rabeprazole 20 mg daily for 4 weeks relative to those receiving placebo (-0.62 vs -0.36, P < 0.0001). The magnitude of this treatment difference was comparable to the differences observed between levels of overall symptom improvement on the patient global rating (0.2 and 0.3 points; P < 0.0001). In conclusion, reducing symptom distress is an important goal of therapeutic interventions for GERD. Rabeprazole significantly reduced the distress associated with a broad range of GERD symptoms, and the magnitude of this effect was meaningful to patients.

Page last updated: 2006-01-31

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