UCLA GIT 2.0 questionnaire and study outcomes

The UCLA GIT 2.0 questionnaire contains 34 items, organized into seven subscales: reflux, distention/bloating, diarrhea, fecal soilage, constipation, emotional wellbeing, and social functioning. The subscales are scored from 0 to 3, higher scores indicating more severe symptomatology and worse HRQoL. Scoring of the diarrhea and constipation scales is different, ranging from 0 to 2 and 0 to 2.5, respectively. The total UCLA GIT 2.0 score is calculated by averaging all subscales, except the one for constipation, and ranges from 0 to 2.83 [6, 7].

We defined three study outcomes: first, the recommendation to perform EGD by the SSc-specialized rheumatologist; second, macroscopic esophagitis identified on EGD (based on the EGD report and mentioning the Los Angeles grade of esophagitis), further referred to as “endoscopic esophagitis”; and third, any significant pathologic finding on EGD, further referred to as “pathologic EGD.” The latter included endoscopic esophagitis, mycotic esophagitis, esophageal strictures, Barrett’s esophagus, gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE), peptic ulcers, and tumors.