# Association Between Childhood Asthma and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Children: A Systematic Review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews the link between childhood asthma and GERD, finding a possible connection but highlighting the need for more research.

## Contribution

The study provides a systematic review of the association between childhood asthma and GERD, emphasizing gaps in current evidence.

## Key findings

- The prevalence of GERD in asthmatic children ranges from 0.7% to 65.3%, with an overall rate of 3.6%.
- Obesity in asthmatic children is an independent risk factor for developing GERD.
- The evidence for a bidirectional relationship between asthma and GERD is weak in some cases.

## Abstract

This study aims to comprehensively investigate the association between childhood asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in children. A thorough search of pertinent databases was done in order to find studies that satisfied the requirements for inclusion. A thorough search of PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Science Direct was conducted to find pertinent literature. Twelve studies, including a total of 176,678 patients - 91,447 (51.8%) of them were males - were included in our data. The prevalence of GERD in asthmatic children ranged from 0.7% to 65.3%, with a total prevalence of 3317 (3.6%). The included studies documented that GERD increases the chance of asthma, while asthma raises the risk of GERD. Obesity in asthmatic patients was an independent risk factor for the incidence of GERD. Controlling asthma is significantly impacted by comorbidities like obesity and GRED. The findings of our comprehensive review point to a possible link between juvenile patients with asthma who are referred to secondary and tertiary care facilities and having GERD. Nevertheless, the evidence for this link is weak in a number of situations. Lack of longitudinal research establishing the proper temporal sequence, studies indicating no severity-response relationship, and insufficient data showing a treatment-response relationship all contribute to the uncertainty around the nature and direction of the association. Our findings highlight the need for additional epidemiologic research to investigate the connection between GERD and asthma, including long-term follow-up.