Encountering Chronic Sore Throat: How Challenging is it for the Otolaryngologists?

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of patients with chronic pharyngitis toward laryngopharyngeal reflux in Suzhou, China

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of patients with chronic pharyngitis in Suzhou, China toward laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with chronic pharyngitis in Suzhou, China at the otolaryngology outpatient clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between November, 2022, and May, 2023. Data was collected through a self-designed online questionnaire encompassing the sociodemographic characteristics and three dimensions of KAP. The questionnaire was administered using SoJump, and data were exported from this platform. Subsequently, statistical analysis, including Structural Equation Modeling, was performed using SPSS 22 software to evaluate the KAP scores.

RESULTS

A total of 487 valid questionnaires were collected, with 275 (56.35%) female patients. The mean score of KAP were 4.76 ± 2.93 (possible range: 0-11), 33.10 ± 4.46 (possible range: 8-40), 31.29 ± 6.04 (possible range: 8-40), respectively. Pearson's correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations between knowledge and attitude dimensions (r = 0.413, P < 0.001), knowledge and practice dimensions (r = 0.355, P < 0.001), and attitude and practice dimensions (r = 0.481, P < 0.001). Structural equation modeling revealed that education exhibited positive effect on knowledge (β = 0.476, P < 0.001) and attitude (β = 0.600, P < 0.001), and having family history of chronic pharyngitis showed positive effect on knowledge (β = 0.580, P = 0.047), experienced with reflux symptoms showed positive effect on knowledge (β = 0.838, P = 0.001) and attitude (β = 0.631, P = 0.085). Moreover, knowledge showed positive effect on attitude (β = 0.555, P < 0.001) and practice (β = 0.351, P < 0.001). Attitude, in turn, showed positive effect on practice (β = 0.511, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Patients with chronic pharyngitis had inadequate knowledge, positive attitudes and suboptimal practices toward LPR. Education, family history of chronic pharyngitis, experienced with reflux symptoms might have effect on their KAP.

[Chronic pharyngitis. Modern approaches to diagnosis and treatment]

The relevance of the problem of chronic inflammatory diseases of the pharynx is due to the significant prevalence of this pathology. Among all forms of chronic pharyngitis, the most adverse effect on the quality of life is observed in chronic athrophic pharyngitis. According to the literature, in this category of patients there are no clear criteria for assessing the functional state and morphological picture of the mucous membrane of the posterior pharyngeal wall. Most of the described signs of atrophic pharyngitis are insufficienyly informative, which necessitates further improvement of existing and possible search for new diagnostic methods. Many of the modern methods of treatment do not provide a lasting effect due to the presence of only a local effect on the altered mucous membrane of the posterior pharyngeal wall, without taking into account the changes that are caused by a violation of trophic processes in the tissue, which necessitates the search for new effective methods of treating this disease.The review article outlines modern ideas about the methods of diagnosis and treatment of chronic pharyngitis, presents promising areas in the treatment of patients with atrophic pharyngitis. In foreign countries, the term «chronic tonsillopharyngitis» is most often used. Due to the existing difference in terminology, the predominant part of the material on the problem of chronic pharyngitis is presented by domestic literature sources.

Understanding the most commonly billed diagnoses in primary care: Acute pharyngitis

ABSTRACT

This is a 12-part series on the most commonly billed diagnoses in primary care. The article discusses the pathophysiologic processes of acute pharyngitis as well as the clinical manifestations and treatments and how they are linked to disease pathogenesis.

[Clinical observation of the anti-reflux treatment for the chronic pharyngitis patients with the reflux finding score from 8 to 10]

Objective:To evaluate the anti-reflux treatment efficacy for the chronic pharyngitis patients with the reflux finding score（RFS） from 8-10. Method:One hundred and twelve patients with clinical diagnosis of chronic pharyngitis and RFS score of 8-10 were randomly divided into control and treatment groups. The treantment group was given the proton pump inhibitors, gastrointestinal motility drugs and the traditional Chinese patent drugs（treatment group）. The control group was given only the traditional Chinese patent drugs（control group）. Result:The visual analogue scale（VAS） of the patients in treatment group declined significantly after treatment. The efficacy of treatment group was significantly higher than that of control group（77.36% vs 30.61%, P<0.01）. Conclusion:For the patients with chronic pharyngitis with RFS 8-10, anti-reflux treatment should be used together with traditional Chinese patent drugs.