title: Gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms are more common in general practice in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To accurately assess the prevalence of GERD symptoms in general practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  4139 consecutive patients (2025 men and 2114 women with a mean age of 43 years), who first attended the Outpatient Department of General Medicine and Emergency Care at Toho University Omori Hospital, were asked to respond to the F-scale questionnaire regardless of their chief complaints. The questionnaire is a self-report instrument, written in a simple and easy-to-understand language, containing 12 questions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 4139 subjects, 1554 patients (37.6%) were identified as GERD according to their F-scale score (> 7). However, there were only 45 consultations (1.1%) for typical GERD symptoms. Although GERD symptoms are common in adults of all ages, the prevalence of GERD was highest in the 20-29 years age group and the age group 70-79 years had the lowest prevalence for both males and females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although there was a high rate indicating GERD in our primary care population, only 1.1% of outpatients attended our hospital with a chief complaint of GERD symptoms. Since about one-third of GERD patients are affected by atypical symptoms, general physicians need to be cautious about extrapolating these results to patients with a chief complaint other than typical GERD symptoms.
authors: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine, Omori Hospital, Tokyo 143-8541, Japan.
authors: Toshiyasu
authors: T
authors: Watanabe
authors: Yoshihisa
authors: Y
authors: Urita
authors: Motonobu
authors: M
authors: Sugimoto
authors: Kazumasa
authors: K
authors: Miki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence
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