Determination of ReQuest™-Based Symptom Thresholds to Define Symptom Relief in GERD Clinical Studies

Background/Aims: The growing importance of symptom assessment is evident from the numerous clinical studies on gastroesophageal refl ux disease (GERD) assessing treatment-induced symptom relief. However, to date, the a priori selection of criteria defi ning symptom relief has been arbitrary. The present study was designed to prospectively identify GERD symptom thresholds for the broad spectrum of GERD-related symptoms assessed by the validated refl ux questionnaire (ReQuest™) and its subscales, ReQuest™-GI (gastrointestinal symptoms) and ReQuest™-WSO (general well-being, sleep disturbances, other complaints), in individuals without evidence of GERD. Methods: In this 4-day evaluation in Germany, 385 individuals without evidence of GERD were included. On the fi rst day, participants completed the ReQuest™, the Gastrointestinal Symptom