The effect of ranitidine (as effervescent tablets) on the quality of life of GORD patients.

Patients diagnosed as suffering from symptomatic reflux disease were entered into this comparative, multicentre study based in UK general practice. The study was designed to investigate the symptomatic response and quality of life of these GORD sufferers as they received ranitidine (Zantac effervescent tablets) over a four-week period. All patients initially received ranitidine 150 mg bd for two weeks. Subsequent treatment was allocated according to symptomatic response: responders remained on the initial dose for the remaining two weeks of the study, non-responders had their dosage increased to qds. Quality of life was assessed using the short-form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) both before and two and four weeks after treatment. The GORD sufferers had a significantly worse quality of life than a representative sample of the general population before treatment. After just four weeks of treatment with ranitidine, however, substantial improvements were observed in all domains of the SF-36, to the extent that the quality of life profile of the GORD sufferers became very similar to that of the general population and no significant differences were observed between the groups.