Comparison of Reflux Symptom Score versus Reflux Symptom Index in screening laryngopharyngeal reflux

Objectives: To compare the screening value of the Reflux Symptom Score (RSS) and the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Methods: All included patients attending the Department of Otolaryngology at the Sixth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital from February 2022 to August 2022, completed the RSS and the RSI and underwent 24-hour hypopharyngeal-esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (24 h HEMII-pH) monitoring. The results of 24 h HEMII-pH were used as a diagnostic criterion for LPR, consistency between two questionnaires (RSS, RSI) and 24 h HEMII-pH was compared by the weighted Cohen's kappa statistic and the screening value of RSS and RSI for LPR was compared by receiver operating characteristics analysis. Results: A total of 77 patients, 58 males, and 19 females, were included. The Kappa values of between RSS, RSI, and 24 h HEMII-pH were 0.663 (p < 0.001) and 0.213 (p < 0.05), respectively. The sensitivity of RSS and RSI were 92.8% and 48.2%, respectively, the specificity was 71.4% and 80.9%. The negative predictive value and positive predictive value of RSI were 36.9%, 87.1%, and that of RSS were 78.9%, 89.6%. The area under curve of the RSS (0.783; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.75) is significantly higher than RSI (0.633; 95% CI = 0.72, 0.90). Conclusion: The RSS has a higher consistency and better screening value for LPR compared to RSI. In addition, the RSS includes more reflux symptoms, which may reduce the number of missed diagnoses in patients with LPR to some extent.