Sensitivity and specificity of the Gastrointestinal Short Form Questionnaire in diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease

Introduction: Gastrointestinal Short Form Questionnaire (GSFQ) is a questionnaire for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) diagnosis, with a version in Spanish language, not yet compared to an objective test. Aims: To establish GSFQ diagnostic performance against 24-hour pH monitoring carried out in two tertiary care hospitals. Methods: Consecutive adult patients with typical GERD symptoms (heartburn, regurgitation) referred for pH monitoring fulfilled the GSFQ (score range 0-30, proportional to probability of GERD). Diagnosis of GERD was established when acid exposure time in distal esophagus was superior to 4.5% or symptom association probability was greater than 95%. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated and best cut-off score determined, with corresponding sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios (LR) (95% confidence interval for each). Results: One hundred and fifty-two patients were included (59.9% women, age 47.9 ± 13.9; 97.4% heartburn; 71.3% regurgitation). pH monitoring was abnormal in 65.8%. Mean GSFQ score was 11.2 ± 6. Area under ROC was 56.5% (47.0-65.9%). Optimal cut-off score was 13 or greater: sensitivity 40% (30.3-50.3%), specificity 71.2% (56.9-82.9%), positive LR 1.39 (0.85-2.26) and negative LR 0.84 (0.67-1.07). Exclusion of questions 1 and 3 of the original GSFQ, easily interpreted as referred to dyspepsia and not GERD, improved only marginally the diagnostic performance: AUROC 59.1%. Conclusion: The GSFQ does not predict results of pH monitoring in patients with typical symptoms in a tertiary care setting.

Estudio sobre la resiliencia en ancianas del Valle de Paraíba, São Paulo, Brasil

La resiliencia es un término que proviene de la física, muy discutido en varias áreas, antes de este referencial, el objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la resiliencia de las mujeres mayores, participantes en las actividades en el Centro de Convivencia. Estudio exploratorio, descriptivo, transversal, con abordaje cuantitativo, caracterizado por 117 mujeres con una edad media de 70 a 80 años, viudas, católicas, jubiladas, de 1-5 años de educación escolar, con ingreso familiar de 2-3 salarios mínimos, practican actividad física, composición familiar de 1-2 miembros en la familia, con percepción positiva para el cuidado de la salud física y mental, toman de 1-2 tipos de medicamentos al día, presentan 1-2 comorbilidades, relatan actividad sexual 1 - 4 veces al mes y con nivel de resiliencia elevado.