Table 1.

Clinical Characteristics of 62 Patients with Reflux Symptoms Refractory to Treatment

	Patients with PPI-refractory GERD symptom (n=62)	Healthy control (n=10)	p-value
Age, yr	59.4±15.0	59.4±19.0	NS*
Sex, male/female	22/40	3/7	NS†
FSSG score	19.2±7.8	2.0±1.1	<0.05*
RE/NERD	11/51	0/10	NS†
Treated with PPI‡	62 (100)	0	<0.05†
History of allergy	11 (17.7)	0	NS*
Peripheral blood eosinophil, %	3.7±3.3	3.0±2.5	NS*

Data are presented as mean±SD or number (%).

PPI, proton pump inhibitor; GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease; NS, not significant; FSSG, frequency scale for the symptoms of GERD; RE, reflux esophagitis; NERD, nonerosive reflux disease.

^*Unpaired t-test;

^†Fisher exact test;

^‡Patients who had already taken PPI before enrollment.