• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.122-152
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was designed to develop a standard tool for pattern identification of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients. Methods: Korean and Chinese literature was selected that mentioned pattern identification of GERD. We gathered the pattern identification and their symptoms and a Chinese medical doctor proficient in Korean translated the Chinese characters into Korean. A Korean linguist then confirmed the translation results to develop a draft of the standard tool for pattern identification of gastroesophageal reflux disease (PIGERD). The final PIGERD was developed after assessment by an expert committee composed of professors from the Korean Medicine University, using the following items: inclusion of the pattern identification and its symptoms, importance of items, and validity of translation. Results: Six pattern identifications and 94 symptoms were selected from 45 references and translated into Korean. Four pattern identifications [pattern/syndrome of liver qi invading the stomach (肝胃不和), spleen-stomach weakness (脾胃虛弱), spleen-stomach dampness-heat (脾胃濕熱), and stomach yin deficiency (胃陰不足)] and 49 symptoms were then selected through the Delphi method by the expert committee. The final standard PIGERD tool was completed after the assessment of translation validity and reflection of individual opinions by the expert committee. This tool consists of 40 items including tongue and pulse diagnosis. The weighted value was also computed from assessment of the importance of items. Conclusions: We developed a standard tool for pattern identification of gastroesophageal reflux disease (PIGERD) to clarify the pattern identification of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease for standardized diagnosis.