OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of affected individuals in Shanghai. METHODS: A representative sample of 1200 adults was selected using a randomized cluster sampling method. Subjects completed mainland Chinese versions of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire (RDQ), GERD Impact Scale (GIS), Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia questionnaire (QOLRAD) and Short Form-36 (SF-36). A clinically meaningful impairment of HRQoL was defined as a statistically significant decrease of ³ 0.5 points in a 7-point QOLRAD domain or ³ 5 points in a 100-point SF-36 domain. RESULTS: 1034 subjects completed the survey (response rate: 86.2%); 919 responses were suitable for analysis (mean age: 46.7 years; 55.4% female). Subjects with GERD (n = 57) had meaningfully impaired HRQoL compared with subjects without GERD (n = 862) in terms of impaired vitality (mean QOLRAD scores: 6.34 vs 7.00), food/drink problems (6.39 vs 7.00) and emotional distress (6.46 vs 7.00) (all £ 0.001), but not sleep disturbance (6.54 vs 7.00) and impaired physical/social functioning (6.67 vs 7.00) (both P £ 0.001); and in the SF-36 dimensions of role-physical (mean SF-36 scores: 71.9 vs 95.2), general health (49.2 vs 70.1), role-emotional (76.6 vs 96.4), bodily pain (76.3 vs 95.8), vitality (54.9 vs 72.9), mental health (71.9 vs 82.4) and physical function (81.4 vs 90.3) (all P <0.001) but not social function (90.6 vs 94.5, P = 0.02). According to the GIS, the most common problems caused by GERD were interference with eating and drinking (4.1% of the study population), sleep impairment (2.5%) and reduced work productivity (2.5%). CONCLUSION: GERD has a clinically meaningful impact on the HRQoL of affected individuals in the general population of Shanghai. Further research is needed to assess how this effect responds to appropriate acid-suppressive therapy.