In Western societies, about 10-15 per cent of parents seek professional help because their baby cries repeatedly, for prolonged amounts of time, without apparent reason. As well as distressing parents, this phenomenon is expensive for health services. 

Frequent or prolonged episodes of acid reflux may cause irritation or inflammation of the lower oesophagus that may have a role in infant irritability. The lack of empirical knowledge about the role of reflux in infant distress prompted a prospective research study of otherwise healthy infants admitted to Royal Children's Hospital for investigation of persistent irritability. One aim of the study was to identify clinical predictors of pathological reflux. The other aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of anti reflux medications in infants who had mild to moderate (but still within the normal range) gastro-esophageal reflux.

The findings to date suggest a number of principles for healthcare policy and practice.