Abstract

Dr. Saba Ishfaq, Dr. Asma Luqman* and Dr. Ifrah Tahir

ABSTRACT

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common causes of chronic cough but association between gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and COPD exacerbation is controversial. Many studies favors that frequency of Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is found to be higher in COPD patients. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of GEDR in COPD patients it will help in deciding whether to routinely assess COPD patients for the likelihood of GERD or not. Methodology: It is a Cross-sectional study done at Department of Pulmonology, Nishtar Hospital Multan from January 2018 to June 2018. We enrolled 190 patients of diagnosed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease through pulmonary function test (PFTs) having age > 40 years, either Gender. These patients were evaluated through GERD questionnaire for presence of GERD. Results: In our study, out of 190 cases of COPD (diagnosed through pulmonary function test), 17.9% (n=34) were between 40-50 years of age, 28.4% (n=54) were between 51-60 years of age, while 53.6% (n=102) had >60 years of age. The mean age was 55.34±7.33 years. In our study male to female ratio was very high i.e. 5.3:1, 84.2% (n=160) were male and 15.8% (n=30) were females. We recorded Frequency of GERD in COPD patients was 42.1% (n=80). Conclusion: The results of our study favors that the frequency of GERD is high among patients with COPD. So, it is recommended that every patient who present with COPD, should be evaluated for GERD. It is also recommended that every tertiary care center should evaluate association between GERD and COPD, so that a large more valuable data can be collected.