UTILITY OF REFLUX FINDING SCORE AND REFLUX SYMPTOM INDEX IN DIAGNOSIS OF
LARYNGOPHARYNGEAL REFLUX DISEASE
Abstract
Objective: The study aimed to determine the utility of reflux finding
score (RFS) and reflux symptom index (RSI) in diagnosis of
laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Design: Hospital based descriptive cross sectional study. Participants:
Patients with throat and voice complaints for more than a month provided
they have no other underlying cause such as tumors of the aerodigestive
system or chronic irritants of the larynx such as cigarette smoking or
those with misuse of voice such as choir singers, teachers. Main outcome
measures: Statistical analyses described the utility of RFS and RSI in
diagnosis of LPRD as designed by Belafsky et al where the diagnosis of
reflux was made when the patient had an aggregate RSI score
>13. Results: In this study, a total of 2500 patients were
recruited, out of which 800 (32.0%) were males and 1700 (68.0%) were
female. Out of the 2500, 1520 (60.8%) patients were found to have a RSI
of >13. Out of the 1520 patients subjected to 70-degree
laryngoscopy, 1425 patients (95.0%) were found to have a RFS
>7. Of the 1425 patients with RFS >7, 260 were
males (18.2%) and 1165 were females (81.8%). Conclusion: RFS and RSI
have shown utility in diagnosing LPRD and they remain to be applicable
even in resource-limited settings. There should be universal treatment
protocol for LPRD since it vary among countries and health systems