According to a study in Plos One, treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may help decrease healthcare visits for acute respiratory infections in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
This population-based study included 21,486 patients diagnosed with GERD and 21,486 matched comparison patients without GERD.
Among GERD patients, the mean annual ARI episode dropped significantly by 11.4%, from 4.39 (during the year before PPI treatment) to 3.89 (after treatment with a PPI) (mean change = –0.5 visit; 95% CI –0.64 to –0.36). Poisson regression analysis also showed that GERD treatment was independently linked to a significant reduction in annual ARI rate (P <.001).
