Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms and effects of esomeprazole on the quality of life related to reflux and dyspepsia in patients on maintenance hemodialysis

Background The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms has not been investigated in patients on maintenance hemodialysis in Japan, and few studies have reported the effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in hemodialysis patients with GERD symptoms. Here, we investigated the prevalence of GERD symptoms and the effects of the PPI esomeprazole on the quality of life related to reflux and dyspepsia in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Methods This was a cross-sectional/cohort study of hemodialysis outpatients implemented in 10 Japanese medical facilities from October 2012 to March 2014. The trial was registered in the UMIN Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN000009124). Results Forty-one of 385 patients (11 %) reported GERD symptoms on the Global Overall Symptom (GOS) questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the independent prognostic factors for GERD symptoms as a history of gastric ulcer and use of sevelamer hydrochloride or calcium polystyrene sulfonate. Participants with GERD symptoms completed the Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia, Japanese version (QOLRAD-J) questionnaire and were assigned to receive 4-week esomeprazole treatment (20 mg/day). This PPI therapy significantly improved all QOLRAD-J domains in the full analysis set ( n = 28) and improved the GERD symptoms listed in the GOS questionnaire. Significantly impaired disease-specific quality of life (QOL) in the QOLRAD-J domains was observed in 44.4–74.1 % of patients who had symptoms before treatment. The mean GOS and QOLRAD-J scores correlated significantly. Conclusion Therapy with 20 mg/day esomeprazole appears to be efficacious for improving disease-specific QOL and GERD symptoms in Japanese patients on maintenance hemodialysis.