Research results show that daily or weekly symptoms of acid reflux can significantly affect a sufferer's health-related quality of life.

"Many people suffer from upper gastrointestinal symptoms from time to time, the most common being heartburn and acid regurgitation," explain lead researcher Dr Jukka Ronkainen, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues.

However, they add that the impact of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms on the health-related quality of life of people in the general population, rather than in those with full-blown gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), is not well known.

As described in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, the researchers surveyed a random sample of 3000 adults living in northern Sweden about the prevalence and frequency of troublesome reflux symptoms. Of these, 1001 underwent physical examinations.

The team found that 6% of the participants reported experiencing reflux symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation on a daily basis, 14% reported weekly symptoms and 20% said they suffered from symptoms less than once a week during the previous 3 months.

Analysis revealed that those who reported daily symptoms had significant impairments in health-related quality of life, as indicated by a scoring system that measures physical activity levels, social activity limitations, bodily pain and other factors.

Participants who experienced weekly reflux symptoms also had significant, although less severe, impairments in health-related quality of life.

Dr Ronkainen and team conclude: "The results of this study suggest that individuals experiencing daily and weekly reflux symptoms are likely to have a clinically significant reduction in most aspects of health-related quality of life."

They add: "Troublesome reflux symptoms at least weekly may identify gastro-oesophageal reflux disease."