To investigate the correlation between the severity of obesity combined with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients and their anxiety, depression and nutritional status.

The clinical data of 120 patients with gGERD admitted to Guanghan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2021 to June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the patients' body mass index (BMI), GERD patients with weight in the normal range (18.5 kg/m²≤BMI<24.0 kg/m²) were divided into the control group (n=68), and obesity (BMI≥28 kg/m²) combined GERD patients were divided into the observation group (n=52). General baseline data, esophageal dynamics indexes, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) scores, Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores, and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scores of the two groups were compared, and the correlation between the severity of the condition of patients with obesity combined GERD and their anxiety, depression and nutritional status was analyzed by Pearson method, respectively.

The Gerd Q score of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (12.32±1.49 vs. 9.27±1.58, P<0.05), and the proportion of moderate and severe patients was higher than that of the control group. The esophageal sphincter pressure in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group [(1.83±0.28) kPa vs. (3.42±0.34) kPa, P<0.05], and the orthostatic reflux time [(4.52±1.36)%], decubitus reflux time ratio [(4.83±1.27)%] and total reflux time [(3.49±1.02)%] in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The HAMA score (19.37±0.36) and HAMD score (17.73±0.83) in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the proportion of patients with normal nutrition in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (19.23% vs. 51.47%), while the proportion of patients with underlying malnutrition was significantly higher than that in the control group (57.69% vs. 27.94%). Correlation analysis showed that DeMeester scores in the observation group were positively correlated with HAMA scores and HAMD scores (r=0.707 9 and 0.814 8, both P<0.000 1), and negatively correlated with MNA scores (r=-0.887 1, P<0.000 1).

Compared with GERD patients whose weight are in the normal range, those with obesity combined with GERD have a more severe condition, with a significant decrease in esophageal function and nutrient absorption, and more pronounced anxiety and depression, and the severity of their condition is significantly correlated with the degree of anxiety and depression and their nutritional status.