Title : Central Obesity as a Risk Factor for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a common disease encountered in otolaryngology. The presentation differs from gastroesohageal reflux disease (GERD) despite sharing similar pathophysiology. There are various postulated risk factors to LPR amongst which is central obesity. The aim of this study is to establish central obesity as a risk factor in developing LPR. This is a comparative cross-sectional study in which 180 patients who were 18 years old and above regardless of obesity status without confounding factors in causing laryngeal mucosal change were enrolled. These patients were not diagnosed with LPR prior. No pH studies or empirical treatment with proton pump inhibitors were given before. Reflux symptom index (RSI) and reflux finding score (RFS) were used to screen for LPR sign and symptoms. 82 central-obese patients based on waist-to-hip ratio (0.9 and 0.85 and above for male and female respectively) and 98 non central-obese patients were in this study. There was a significant higher value of both RSI and RFS in central-obese patients with significant positive correlation between these variables. This study derived a linear correlation between central obesity and LPR based on the relatively simple and non-invasive RSI and RFS tool.