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.
Keywords: Prevalence; laryngopharyngeal; reflux, disease;
Tanzania