Do physicians correctly assess patient symptom severity in gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease?

Summary Background : The accuracy of physicians’ assessment of the severity of gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease is unclear. Aim : To correlate physician and patient assessment of gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease severity and its response to treatment. Methods : Adult uninvestigated gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease patients (n = 217) completed symptom and health‐related quality of life questionnaires at baseline and after treatment with esomeprazole 40 mg p.o. daily. Pearson coefficients quantified correlations between physician assessments and patient responses. Results : At baseline, the strongest correlations were heartburn severity (0.31), overall symptom severity (0.44) and a domain of the quality of life in reflux and dyspepsia questionnaire (0.31) (P