The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease among hospital employees

Oct 2, 2012Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus

How common acid reflux disease is among hospital workers

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) among hospital employees was found to be 21.7%.

Symptoms other than heartburn were significantly more common in employees with GERD, including asthma (6.6% vs. 3.4%), night cough (27.6% vs. 8.3%), and noncardiac chest pain (50% vs. 19.5%).
Dyspeptic complaints were significantly higher among patients with GERD.
Independent risk factors associated with GERD symptoms included female gender, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, and a body mass index over 30.
Age, alcohol consumption, coffee, tea, and tobacco smoking did not appear to be risk factors for reflux.

AI simplified

Quantitative estimate of the actual prevalence of the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is difficult to obtain because most of the patients with heartburn have intermittent symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of typical and atypical symptoms suggesting GERD to investigate the association of habits and social conditions reported to lead to reflux in the employees of hospital. A total of 2037 collected forms were assessed. The prevalence of GERD was found to be 21.7% (442). The prevalence of symptoms other than heartburn in employees with and without GERD symptoms were 6.6% versus 3.4% (P < 0.05) for asthma, 27.6% versus 8.3% (P < 0.001) for night cough, 50% versus 19.5% (P < 0.001) for noncardiac chest pain. Dyspeptic complaints were found to be significantly higher among GERD patients (P < 0.001). By multiple logistic regression analysis, female gender (odds ratio [OR] 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.60, P = 0.027), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug medication (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.60, P = 0.021) and body mass index over 30 (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.60-3.18, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors associated with GERD symptoms. GERD is a common health problem in Turkey, and its prevalence is similar to that of Western populations with different symptom profiles. Female gender, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and body mass index >30 kg/m(2) were independent risk factors associated with GERD symptoms. Age, alcohol, coffee, tea, and tobacco smoking do not seem to be risk factors for reflux.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease among hospital employees

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief