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Disease‐specific health‐related quality of life in patients with esophageal achalasia before and after therapy
Author(s) -
Garrigues V.,
Ortiz V.,
Casanova C.,
Bujanda L.,
Morenoosset E.,
Rodrígueztéllez M.,
Montserrat A.,
Brotons á.,
Fort E.,
Ponce J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
neurogastroenterology and motility
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.489
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1365-2982
pISSN - 1350-1925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01515.x
Subject(s) - achalasia , medicine , myotomy , quality of life (healthcare) , disease , physical therapy , esophagus , nursing
Background To evaluate disease‐specific health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with symptomatic esophageal achalasia before and after therapy. Methods Symptoms and disease‐specific HRQoL were evaluated before and 3 months after therapy. Therapy selection, either dilatation or myotomy, depended exclusively on the opinion of the physician on charge of the patient. Symptom severity was graded from 0 to 3, using a scoring system. A disease‐specific questionnaire for achalasia developed and validated in Spanish language with 18 items and four subscales (AE‐18) was used to evaluate HRQoL. Changes after therapy in HRQoL and its association with clinical improvement were analyzed. Key Results Sixty‐five patients were prospectively included in eight hospitals in Spain. Of them, 47 were treated with dilatation, and 18 with laparoscopic Heller myotomy. After therapy, AE‐18 global and subscales scores improved significantly. Changes in HRQoL were associated with improvement in symptoms. An important improvement in symptoms (≥50%) was needed to obtain a minimal clinically important improvement (≥20%) in HRQoL. Conclusions & Inferences Disease‐specific HRQoL improves in patients with symptomatic achalasia after therapy with dilatation or myotomy. The degree of improvement of HRQoL depends on the degree of improvement of esophageal symptoms.