Table 1.

Characteristics of the subjects in the two treatment groups.

Patients' characteristics	Eso20	PRA
Number of subjects	39	38
Male (no)	22 (56%)	21 (55%)
Age in years (mean)	47.8 (14.5)	46.2 (14.8)
BMI (mean)	26.2 (3.1)	25.7 (3.0)
Cups of coffee per day (mean)	3.0 (2.2)	3.3 (2.6)
Smokers (daily/past/never) (no)	9/12/18	10/16/12
Duration of reflux symptoms in years (mean)	8.0 (7.6)	8.0 (8.5)
Symptom score at inclusion (mean)	11.3 (3.9)	11.3 (4.1)
Degree of esophagitis (no)
- NERD	13 (33%)	15 (40%)
- Los Angeles Grade A	20 (51%)	17 (45%)
- Los Angeles Grade B	6 (15%)	6 (16%)
Hiatal hernia (no)	26 (67%)	24 (63%)

The groups were well balanced. The results are given as number of patients (proportion in brackets) or mean (standard deviation in brackets).

Eso20: Esomeprazole 20 mg.

PRA: Pectin-based Raft-forming Agent.

BMI: Body mass index.

NERD: Non erosive reflux disease.