Behavioral intervention may benefit pregnant women
The study is important because heartburn and regurgitation are common challenges during pregnancy, Ziad F. Gellad, MD, of Duke University, Durham, N.C., said in an interview. “Understanding risk factors for these conditions can be helpful in designing behavioral and pharmaceutical therapeutic interventions.”
Dr. Ziad F. Gellad
The link between short MTBT and increased risk for GERD is well-known, said Dr. Gellad. “Lengthening the time to laying supine after a meal is a common recommendation given to patients with GERD and is included in published GERD guidelines.” Although pregnant woman may have been excluded from trials on which the guidelines and recommendations are based, “it is reasonable to expect that findings would translate to this population that is generally higher risk for reflux,” he noted.
Dr. Gellad was interested to see the dose response between MTBT and reflux, with those patients having both daytime and nighttime short MTBT experiencing reflux more often than those with short MTBT in only one of those time periods (4-7 days vs. 1-3 days).
The key message for clinicians is that, for all individuals, pregnant or not, “avoiding late night meals and short meal-to-bed time is an appropriate behavioral intervention to recommend for patients with troublesome heartburn or regurgitation,” Dr. Gellad emphasized. However, more research is needed in some areas, “implementation studies would be helpful to understand how best to educate patients on behavioral modifications known to decrease reflux symptoms.”
The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose. Dr. Gellad had no relevant financial disclosures, but serves as a member of the GI & Hepatology News board of editors.