Definitions of reflux disease and its separation from dyspepsia.

Management strategies for reflux disease are very different from those for dyspepsia and so differentiating between patients with "true" dyspepsia and those whose primary symptom is heartburn is a key step in their management. This separation has become more clear during the last decade as insights into reflux disease and dyspepsia have improved. It is likely that the use of short self administered questionnaires in routine clinical care will improve the reliability of separation of reflux induced symptoms from true dyspepsia.