ArticleThe American journal of gastroenterology2015
How Do US Gastroenterologists Use Over-the-Counter and Prescription Medications in Patients With Gastroesophageal Reflux and Chronic Constipation?
Article in The American journal of gastroenterology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of auricular acupressure on constipation and related quality of life among the older people in the residential care home: a randomized clinical trial.BMC geriatrics · 2023Trial
- Lessons learned: Chronic idiopathic constipation patient experiences with over-the-counter medications.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Constipation: More Than a Quality-of-Life Issue.JACC. Asia · 2026Article
- Self-Management of Reflux-Like Symptoms: A Patient-Centered Decision-Making Approach.Digestive diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Sleep Disorders and Constipation in Autistic Children and Youth: Who Receives Standard of Care Drug Treatments?Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Rifaximin in diverticulosis and diverticular disease: a national survey among Italian gastroenterologists and general practitioners.Internal and emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Prucalopride might improve intestinal motility by promoting the regeneration of the enteric nervous system in diabetic rats.International journal of molecular medicine · 2022Article
- Effects ofEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Laxative use in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease transitioning to dialysis.Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2021Article
- Constipation in CKD.Kidney international reports · 2020Review
- The Association between Prebiotic Fiber Supplement Use and Colorectal Cancer Risk and Mortality in the Women's Health Initiative.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2019Article
- Country-wide medical records infer increased allergy risk of gastric acid inhibition.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Proton Pump Inhibitor Use, HCalcified tissue international · 2018Article
- Recent advances in understanding and managing chronic constipation.F1000Research · 2018Review
- Intractable Constipation in the Elderly.Current treatment options in gastroenterology · 2017Review
- Effective and safe proton pump inhibitor therapy in acid-related diseases - A position paper addressing benefits and potential harms of acid suppression.BMC medicine · 2016Review
- Chronic constipation in the elderly: a primer for the gastroenterologist.BMC gastroenterology · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to assess how US gastroenterologists perceive and utilize over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and chronic constipation (CC).
methodsA total of 3,600 randomly selected American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) members were mailed a 27-question survey that assessed their perceptions and use of OTC and prescription medications. The χ(2) test and Student's t-test were utilized for bivariate analysis.
resultsA total of 830 gastroenterologists (23.1%) completed the survey. For the typical acid reflux patient, 50% of gastroenterologists recommended OTC proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), 13% recommended an OTC histamine2 receptor antagonist, whereas 33% recommended a prescription PPI. However, in the typical CC patient, 97% of gastroenterologists initially utilized OTC treatments. The vast majority of gastroenterologists felt that OTC brand name and store brand PPIs (76%) and polyethylene glycol (PEG 3350; 90%) were equally effective. Despite this, a minority "always" or "very often" directed their patients to purchase a store brand PPI (35%) or laxative (40%). In addition, gastroenterologists tended to underestimate the cost savings associated with store brand medicines and had limited knowledge regarding the regulation of store brands.
conclusionsAmong US gastroenterologists, OTC medications now dominate primary therapy of GERD and CC. Despite feeling that name brand and store brand PPIs and laxatives are equally effective, the majority of gastroenterologists recommend brand name medicines and underestimate the cost savings associated with store brands. In this age of accountable care, greater efforts to help physicians and patients to better utilize their health-care dollars is warranted.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.