According to results of a survey presented at the 72nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, nighttime acid reflux, along with some of the less typical manifestations or symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is associated with significant sleep impairment.
In a recent national survey, researchers assessed the prevalence of sleep impairment among people with GERD and people without GERD based on response to an Internet survey of a general population of U.S. adults. Using a validated GERD screening tool, 701 respondents were identified with GERD and the remaining were controls. Bonnie Dean, MPH, PhD, of Cerner LifeSciences, Ronnie Fass, MD of the University of Arizona and their research team found that sleep impairment was more common among people with GERD (41.9 percent) than those without GERD (19.4 percent). Researchers found that 49.5 percent of respondents with nighttime GERD reported sleeping poorly often or most of the time, compared to 36.7 percent of people with daytime GERD.