@article {TariqPA4578, author = {Kamran Tariq and Clair Barber and Kerry Gove and Hitasha Rupani and Tom Brown and Ramesh Kurukulaaratchy and Anoop Chauhan and Ratko Djukanovic and Peter Howarth}, title = {Role of gastro-oesophageal reflux in severe asthma: Experience from the Wessex severe asthma cohort}, volume = {46}, number = {suppl 59}, elocation-id = {PA4578}, year = {2015}, doi = {10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA4578}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Introduction: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common co-morbidity in severe asthmatics. Its role in the description of the disease process and its mechanisms remains to be confirmed.Methods: We analysed the MRC Wessex severe asthma cohort data focussing on severe asthmatics. 324 patients were classified on the basis of treatment with anti-acid treatment (Proton pump inhibitors, H2 receptor blockers) as those with and without GORD. Data were analysed with appropriate statistical tests using SPSS and Graphpad PrismResults: Gender distribution showed a prevalence of females compared to males (GORD-76.6\% vs 23.4\%; p\<0.001) and high BMI in patients with GORD (p\<0.001). GORD was associated with higher BTS management step (p\<0.001), higher ACQ6 (p\<0.001) and ACQ7 (p=0.001) scores, high HAD score (p=0.01) and lower AQLQ scores (p\<0.001) but no significant difference in lung function. GORD patients were ca. twice as likely to be on prophylactic antibiotics (14.6\% vs 7.2\% p=0.04), suggesting poorer control and higher exacerbation rates. Patients with GORD also had higher median [range] number of hospital admissions in last 12 months (0 [0{\textendash}2] vs.0 [0{\textendash}0.2], p=0.01), unscheduled GP visits (p=0.03) and lifetime history of ICU admissions (p=0.03).Conclusions: This study data highlights the importance of GORD as potentially describing a phenotype of asthma. Better definition of this phenotype has the potential to identify disease pathways associated with GORD that could help define new strategies for the management of severe asthma.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA4578}, eprint = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }