Prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux-related symptoms in Japanese infants.
BACKGROUND
To obtain precise information on the natural course of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER)-related symptoms in Japanese children, we surveyed the prevalence of regurgitation or vomiting and other GER-related symptoms and complications in infants visiting for healthy baby check-ups.


METHODS
We interviewed the mothers of 921 infants who had visited for baby check-ups at 1, 4, 7 and 12 months after birth, about the number of regurgitation or vomiting episodes per day, other GER-related symptoms, milk volume, feeding interval, and the body position after feeding.


RESULTS
Of 1-month-old infants, 47.1% had one or more regurgitation or vomiting episode per day. This proportion decreased to 28.8% at 4 months old and 6.4% at 7 months old. The proportion of infants with three or more episodes of these symptoms per day showed a similar pattern. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of regurgitation or vomiting between breast-fed infants and formula-fed or mixed-feeding infants either at 1 or 4 months of age. There was no significant difference in the bodyweight gain of 3-month-old infants among those with various degrees of regurgitation. There was no significant difference in the frequency of regurgitation or vomiting episodes between infants placed in a vertical position and those placed in a horizontal position after feeding. No infant had a history of chronic coughing, wheezing, bleeding or other serious conditions.


CONCLUSIONS
Regurgitation is a common symptom in Japanese infants and decreases spontaneously with age. The natural history of GER must be taken into consideration when deciding the treatment.
Miyazawa
Reiko
R
Department of Pediatrics, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Tomomasa
Takeshi
T
Kaneko
Hiroaki
H
Tachibana
Atsushi
A
Ogawa
Tetsushi
T
Morikawa
Akihiro
A
D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors; D014839:Vomiting / Q000453:epidemiology