AIM: To explore the role of psychological factors in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and their effect on quality of life (QoL) of GERD patients. METHODS: A total of 279 consecutive patients with typical symptoms and 100 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All of the participants were evaluated with the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (ZSAS), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) and the SF-36 questionnaire. The scores for anxiety, depression and QoL of the two groups were analyzed. The correlation between psychological factors and QoL was also analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls (34.70 ± 8.00), the scores of ZSAS in the non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) group (48.27 ± 10.34) and the reflux esophagitis (RE) group (45.38 ± 10.27) were significantly higher (P 0.001). The mean ZSAS score of the NERD group was significantly higher than that of the RE group (P = 0.01). Compared with healthy controls (37.61 ± 8.44), the mean ZSDS scores were significantly higher in the NERD group (49.65 ± 11.09, P 0.001) and the RE group (46.76 ± 11.83, P 0.001). All dimensions of the SF-36 form were negatively correlated with the SAS and SDS scores in patients with NERD and RE (P 0.05). According to the SF-36 form, vitality, mental health and social functioning were significantly correlated with symptoms of depression in patients with NERD and RE. General health was obviously affected by symptoms of depression in patients with NERD (P 0.05). CONCLUSION: Anxiety and depression may play an important role in the occurrence of GERD and especially that of NERD. The QoL of patients with GERD is reduced by anxiety and depression.
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