Halitosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Halitosis, including details on bad breath, oral hygiene, oral bacteria, treatment.

Awareness of general practitioners towards treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux: a British survey.

Karkos PD, Thomas L, Temple RH, Issing WJ

Department of Otolaryngology, Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester, UK. pkarkos@aol.com

OBJECTIVE: Patients with acid reflux can occasionally present with atypical symptoms such as globus pharyngeus, constant throat clearing, chronic cough, hoarseness, catarrh, choking episodes or asthma-like symptoms. The aim of this survey was to determine whether general practitioners are aware of the atypical manifestations of reflux and the differences in treatment between laryngopharyngeal reflux and gastroesophageal reflux. DESIGN: Questionnaire Survey. SETTING: Primary Care RESULTS: One hundred and sixty general practitioners who routinely refer patients to our Department of Otolaryngology were selected and a postal survey was conducted. One hundred and fifty of these responded (94% response rate). The commonest symptoms for which proton pump inhibitors are prescribed are heartburn (65%), followed by a combination of heartburn and other symptoms (15%), chronic cough (4%), choking episodes (4%), asthma-like symptoms (3%), hoarseness (2%), globus (2%), catarrh (1%), dysphagia (1.5%), frequent throat clearing (1.5%), halitosis and/or bitter taste (1%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the majority of the general practitioners surveyed are unaware of the entity laryngopharyngeal reflux or reflux symptom index. More awareness is required in the primary care setting for early recognition of patients with suspected laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Published 10 October 2005 in Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 133(4): 505-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Halitosis Research Today. All Rights Reserved.