Diagnostic properties of a symptoms scale for diagnosing reflux esophagitis.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To the objective of the study was to determine accuracy and predictive values of a symptoms scale for diagnosing reflux esophagitis (RE). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Standard criterion study. All recruited patients from two centers in Chile underwent both digestive endoscopy (reference standard) and a symptoms scale known to be valid and reliable for diagnosing gastroesophageal reflux disease. The RE variable was dealt with dichotomously. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios of the scale were calculated. RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty eight (238) subjects (57.6% female), with an average age of 44.2+/-13.0 years were included. Of these, 57.1% presented with RE. With a cut-off score of six, association was confirmed between the symptoms scale and RE with an odds ratio of 7.26 and a correct classification i.e. diagnostic accuracy of 73.1%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, positive and negative likelihood ratios, of 74.3%, 71.6%, 77.7%, 67.6%, 2.61, and 0.36 respectively, were obtained. CONCLUSION: A seven-item symptoms scale when compared to endoscopy as gold standard was useful for diagnosing RE. Using a cutoff of six points, the diagnostic accuracy of the scale was 73.1%.

Author information

Author/s: Torres-Quevedo, Rodrigo (R); Manterola, Carlos (C); Sanhueza, Antonio (A); Bustos, Luis (L); Pineda, Viviana (V); Vial, Manuel (M);

Affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Multicenter Study

Journal: Journal of clinical epidemiology (J Clin Epidemiol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jan; vol 62 (issue 1) : pp 97-101

Dates: Created 2008/12/19; Completed 2009/04/02;

PMID: 18619802, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 4/2/2009, IMS Date: 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00)

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