A detailed critique of objective measurements of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) would improve management of patients suspecting of having reflux, leading to rational selection of treatment and better outcomes. Many diagnostic tests for GERD have been developed over the past decades. We analyze their development, positive- and negative-predictive values, and ability to predict response to treatment. These features are important for development of medical, surgical, and endoscopic therapies for GERD. We discuss the value of available diagnostic tests and review their role in management of patients with persistent reflux symptoms despite adequate medical or surgical treatment. This is becoming a significant health economic problem, due to the widespread use of proton pump inhibitors. GERD is believed to cause nonesophageal symptoms, such as those provoked by ear, nose, throat, or respiratory disorders. We analyze the value of GERD diagnostic tests in evaluation of these troublesome, nonesophageal symptoms.

对胃食管反流病（GERD）的客观测量进行详细的批判将改善对怀疑有反流的患者的管理，从而导致合理的治疗选择和更好的结果。在过去的几十年中，已经开发了许多GERD诊断测试。我们分析了它们的发展，正向和负向预测值以及预测对治疗反应的能力。这些功能对于开发用于GERD的医学，外科手术和内窥镜治疗非常重要。我们讨论了可用的诊断测试的价值，并回顾了其在尽管进行了充分的医学或外科治疗后仍具有持续性反流症状的患者中的作用。由于质子泵抑制剂的广泛使用，这已成为一个重要的健康经济问题。GERD被认为会引起非食道症状，例如由于耳，鼻，喉或呼吸系统疾病引起的疾病。我们分析了GERD诊断测试在评估这些麻烦的非食道症状中的价值。