Journal List > Korean J Gastroenterol > v.57(5) > 1006806

Lee, Jung, Kim, Jang, Lee, Kim, Kim, Cho, Park, Kim, Jung, Kwon, Lee, Yang, Park, Seo, and Jeon: Clinical Characteristics of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease with Esophageal Injury in Korean: Focusing on Risk Factors

Abstract

Background/Aims

Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasing in Korea. However, studies on risk factors for GERD have yielded inconsistent results. The aims of this study were to compare clinical features between symptomatic syndromes without esophageal injury (=non-erosive disease [NED]) and syndromes with esophageal injury (=erosive disease [ED]), and to determine risk factors associated ED.

Methods

A total of 450 subjects who visited gastroenterology clinics of six training hospitals in Daegu from March 2008 to April 2010 were consecutively enrolled. The subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire which inquired about gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. The questionnaire also included questions about smoking, alcohol drinking, consumption of coffee, use of drugs, exercise, and other medical history. The subjects were subdivided into NED and ED groups.

Results

The proportion of subjects in each NED and ED group was 172 (38.2%) and 278 (61.8%). Male gender, smoking, alcohol drinking, consumption of coffee, large waist circumference, infrequent medication of antacids, aspirin and NSAIDs, infrequent and mild GERD symptoms were all significantly associated with ED on univariate analysis. Age, hiatal hernia, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, change in weight during 1 year, and number of typical GERD symptoms were not independent risk factors for ED. However, the association between ED and alcohol drinking, infrequent medication of antacids, mild typical GERD symptoms remained as strong risk factors after adjustments on multivariate logistic analysis.

Conclusions

Independent risk factors associated with ED were alcohol drinking, infrequent medication of antacids and mild typical GERD symptoms.

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Table 1.
Patient Characteristics (n=450)
Male/Female 222 (49.3%)/228 (50.7%)
NED/ED 172 (38.2%)/278 (61.8%)
Age (years; mean±SD) 54.0±12.8
BMI (kg/m2; mean±SD) 23.6±3.26
BMI subgroups (%)  
  Normal 69.3%
  Overweight 27.6%
  Obese 3.1%
Waist circumference 84.0±9.05
(cm; mean±SD)  

NED, non-erosive disease; ED, erosive disease.

Table 2.
Factors Associated with Erosive Disease
Variables N NED (n=172) ED (n=278) p-value
Age (years; mean±SD) 5 52.68±12.83 54.76±12.74 0.094
Age group     0.067
<65 137 (79.7%) 200 (71.9%)  
≥65 35 (20.3%) 78 (28.1%)  
Sex     <0.001
Male 57 (33.1%) 165 (59.4%)  
Female 1 115 (66.9%) 113 (40.6%)  
Hiatal hernia 12 (7.0%) 33 (11.9%) 0.093
Alcohol users 50 (29.1%) 146 (52.9%) <0.001
Tobacco users 32 (18.6%) 109 (39.4%) <0.001
Coffee users 105 (61.0%) 202 (72.9%) 0.009
Medication      
Antacid 85 (50.0%) 81 (29.7%) <0.001
PPI or H2-RA 14 (8.4%) 26 (9.6%) 0.669
Aspirin or NSAIDs 37 (22.0%) 36 (13.1%) 0.014
Diabetes mellitus 36 (20.9%) 53 (19.1%) 0.642
Exercise     0.736
<1/week 90 (52.3%) 150 (54.0%)  
≥1/week 82 (47.7%) 128 (46.0%)  
BMI (kg/m2; mean±SD) 23.2±3.12 23.8±3.33 0.065
BMI subgroups     0.142
<25 127 (73.8%) 185 (66.5%)  
25≤ <30 40 (23.3%) 84 (30.2%)  
≥30 5 (2.9%) 9 (3.2%)  
Change in weight for 1 year r   0.999
Decrease or No change 1 146 (86.4%) 240 (87.6%)  
Increase ≤5 kg 17 (10.1%) 21 (7.7%)  
Increase >5 kg 6 (3.6%) 13 (4.7%)  
Waist circumference 82.18±9.26 85.07±8.75 0.001
(cm; mean±SD)      
Waist circumference subgroups     0.003
<80 cm 66 (40.2%) 68 (25.4%)  
80.0–89.9 cm 64 (39.0%) 126 (47.0%)  
90.0–99.9 cm 29 (17.7%) 57 (21.3%)  
100 cm- 5 (3.0%) 17 (6.3%)  

NED, non-erosive disease; ED, erosive disease; PPI, proton pump inhibitor; H2-RA, H2 receptor antagonist; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Table 3.
Symptoms Associated with Erosive Disease
Variable NED (%) ED (%) p-value
Number of typical GERS a     0.953
1 74/172 (43.0) 97/227 (42.7)  
2 98/172 (57.0) 130/227 (57.3)  
Frequency of typical GERS b     0.002
  1/week 39/172 (22.7) 55/163 (33.7)  
  ≥2/week 67/172 (39.0) 70/163 (42.9)  
  Daily 66/172 (38.4) 38/163 (23.3)  
Severity of typical GERS     0.001
  Mild 6/172 (3.5) 25/228 (11.0)  
  Moderate 109/172 (63.4) 153/228 (67.1)  
  Severe 57/172 (33.1) 50/228 (21.9)  
Atypical symptoms      
  Globus sensation 54/172 (31.4) 56/278 (20.1) 0.007
  Dysphagia 72/170 (42.4) 82/276 (29.7) 0.006
  Belching 95/172 (55.2) 104/278 (37.4) <0.001
  Coughing 45/172 (26.2) 78/278 (28.1) 0.661
  Wheezing 35/172 (20.3) 65/276 (23.6) 0.429
  Dyspnea on exertion 36/172 (20.9) 53/278 (19.1) 0.629
  Hoarseness 56/172 (32.6) 80/278 (28.8) 0.396

NED, non-erosive disease; ED, erosive disease; GERS, gastroesophageal reflux symptom.

a 51 ED cases without typical GERS were excluded to compare with NED.

b 115 ED cases without typical GERS weekly were excluded to compare with NED.

Table 4.
Risk Factors for Erosive Disease
Risk factor Inivariate analysis, R OR (95% CI) Multivariate analysis, OR a (95% CI)
Male vs. female gender 2.95 (1.98–4.38)
Alcohol users vs. non-users 2.57 (1.75–3.78) 1.83 (1.07–3.12)
Smokers vs. non-smokers 2.36 (1.56–3.59)
Coffee users vs. non-users 1.51 (1.02–2.24)
Antacids medication 0.46 (0.32–0.68) 0.61 (0.38–0.97)
Aspirin or NSAIDs medication 0.50 (0.31–0.82)
Waist circumference (cm)    
  <80 vs. 80.0–89.9 1.76 (1.14–2.72)
  <80 vs. 90.0–99.9 1.91 (1.11–3.30)
<80 vs. ≥100 3.65 (1.28–10.44)
Severity of typical GERS    
Mild vs. Moderate 0.34 (0.13–0.85)
Mild vs. Severe 0.21 (0.08–0.56) 0.27 (0.09–0.81)

NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; GERS, gastroesophageal reflux symptom.

a Adjusted for gender, alcohol drinking, smoking, consumption of coffee, medication of antacid, aspirin or NSAIDs, waist circumference and severity of typical GERS

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