Impaired cough-related quality of life in patients with controlled asthma with gastroesophageal reflux disease

摘要

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) often coexists with asthma with or without suggestive symptoms. The current asthma guidelines recommend medical management for GERD in patients with symptoms of reflux and poorly controlled asthma, particularly those who have nocturnal symptoms. GERD is a cause of chronic cough not only in the general population but also in patients with asthma despite control of other symptoms on inhaled corticoste-roids; however, the latter has not been fully elucidated. In a cross-sectional study, we assessed the effect of symptomatic GERD on the cough-related quality of life in patients with controlled asthma.One hundred seventeen patients with controlled asthma who attended outpatient clinics at Shizuoka General Hospital for routine checkups between December 2009 and September 2010 were enrolled in this study. All patients satisfied the definition of asthma, were receiving inhaled corticosteroids or other medications for asthma for at least 3 months, and were assessed as having totally or well-controlled asthma during the previous 4 weeks on the basis of the Asthma Control Test, a validated asthma control question-naire.