Hiccups are a common symptom in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Usually hiccups only last for a few minutes, but in some cases they last for 1–2 days, and in some cases, hiccups with gastroesophageal reflux last for years.

Hiccups are a normal physiological phenomenon. The mechanism that causes hiccups is due to stimulation of the brain-phrenic nerve or phrenic nerve-diaphragm reflex arc. A hiccup usually lasts an average of 5 to 10 minutes but can also last for several hours or even several days, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, a hiccup lasting 68 years by Charles Osborne (1894-1991). The frequency of hiccups varies from person to person, averaging from 2 to 60 times/minute.