Questionnaire for diagnosis and response to therapy in rumination syndrome

Abstract

Summary Rumination is a behavioral disorder characterized by regurgitation of food without retching. It is diagnosed clinically by the Rome Criteria and treated primarily by diaphragmatic breathing. Despite diagnosis and follow-up being based on symptomatic responses to therapies, there are no published or validated questionnaires. To address this care-gap, a rumination questionnaire was developed and reviewed by two expert esophagologists and five patients diagnosed with rumination. Ultimately, an eight-point questionnaire with scoring ranging from −1 to 10 was finalized. This newly developed questionnaire was implemented on five additional patients diagnosed clinically with rumination syndrome with improvement after interventions noted.