Evaluation of Temperament- based Diet Intervention on the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Background and Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common chronic disorders of the digestive system. This survey was performed to determine the effect of Temperament–based dietary intervention on the symptoms of GERD.
In a randomized clinical trial, 60 patients with GERD attending the Qaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran were randomly divided into nutrition education group (n= 30) and control group (n= 30). In case group, patients were referred to the Traditional Medicine Clinic and their temperament and dystemperament were verified by a traditional medicine physician. Temperament–based dietary education was held in intervention group for 1.5 hours according to the determined dystemperament. The participants were asked to follow the diet for two weeks. In control group, the same process was carried out along with the accustomed dietary education without taking notice to their temperament. The GERD questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and 24-hour diet recalls (24-HDR) were administered to collect the data. SPSS V.11.5 was used to analyze the data applying Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, Independent T test, and Paired T test.
After the intervention, significant decrease were seen in the symptoms among the intervention group including heartburn (25.5%), frequency of acid regurgitation (14%), heartburn severity (11.3%), acid regurgitation severity (23.6%) and duration of heartburn (5.2%), duration of acid regurgitation (34%), and heartburn dissemination (8.8%) (P Considering temperament in diet can play an important role in improving the symptoms in patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.