Volume 27, Issue 134, April 2023

The association between GERD patients’ knowledge and development of complications in Makkah

Afnan Mousa Alhawsawi¹, Ola Abdullah Altwyjri¹, Ghaida Raja Allah Alsubhi¹, Linah Jamal Shaikh Omar¹, Abeer Shaker Elmoursy Ali², Talal Mohamed Karima³, Wesam A. Nasif^4,5

¹Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
³Herra General Hospital, Gastroenterology Unit, Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
⁴Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
⁵Molecular Biology Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, Sadat City University, Sadat City, Cairo, Egypt

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
ORCID: 0000-0002-6047-7818

ABSTRACT

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common upper gastrointestinal condition. GERD patients report heartburn, regurgitation, chest pain, dysphasia, globus sensation and other symptoms and complications that influence their quality of life. We aimed to determine how patient awareness of disease aggravation affects GERD patients' quality of life in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Makkah 1197 participants completed the online questionnaire, 218 of whom had GERD and met the inclusion criteria for age, gender and ethnicity. Psychiatric patients, pregnant women, cardiovascular patients (angina, myocardial infarction) and asthmatics were excluded. Results: There were significant differences in knowledge scores based on occupational status (p<0.001). There was a significant difference among different levels of education with p = 0.00. The most common symptoms included a burning sensation followed by pain, nausea and regurgitation. The most frequently reported complications were gastric pain and dyspnea. Conclusion: Although GERD is a common disorder worldwide, our results showed less knowledge about GERD complications among those diagnosed with the disease. Awareness of complications is important for decreasing incidences and improving quality of life.

Keywords: Gastroesophageal reflux disease, complications, quality life, awareness, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e172ms2962

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i134/e172ms2962

Published: 03 April 2023