EurekAlert! -- Gastroesophageal reflux (GER), defined as passage of gastric contents into the esophagus is a normal process that occurs in healthy infants, children and adults. When GER causes troublesome symptoms and/or complications it is referred to as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). During infancy, GER is common and can manifest with specific symptoms as vomiting and non-specific symptoms as irritability and cough. Association of non-specific symptoms with GER is a main problem in the diagnosis of GERD. Timely association of GER episodes and symptom episodes are expressed by symptom-reflux association analysis (SAA) parameters. Abnormal results of SAA parameters point towards GERD. Three SAA parameters are commonly used, symptom index (SI), symptom sensitivity index (SSI) and symptom association probability (SAP). The agreement of these 3 SAA parameters has never been investigated in the infant population.
