Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms in a large unselected general population in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms in a large unselected general population in Japan.


METHODS
In Japan, mature adults are offered regular check-ups for the prevention of gastric cancer. A notice was sent by mail to all inhabitants aged>40 years. A total of 160983 Japanese (60774 male, 100209 female; mean age 61.9 years) who underwent a stomach check up were enrolled in this study. In addition, from these 160983 subjects, we randomly selected a total of 82894 (34275 male, 48619 female; mean age 62.4 years) to evaluate the prevalence of abdominal pain. The respective subjects were prospectively asked to complete questionnaires concerning the symptoms of heartburn, dysphagia, and abdominal pain for a 1 mo period.


RESULTS
The respective prevalences of the symptoms in males and females were: heartburn, 15.8% vs 20.7%; dysphagia, 5.4% vs 7.8%; and abdominal pain, 6.6% vs 9.6%. Among these symptoms, heartburn was significantly high compared with the other symptoms, and the prevalence of heartburn was significantly more frequent in females than in males in the 60-89-year age group. Dysphagia was also significantly more frequent in female patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of typical GERD symptoms (heartburn) was high, at about 20% of the Japan population, and the frequency was especially high in females in the 60-89 year age group.
Yamagishi
Hatsushi
H
Division of Gastroenterology Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryou-Machi, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. hatsushi@f2.dion.ne.jp
Koike
Tomoyuki
T
Ohara
Shuichi
S
Kobayashi
Shigeyuki
S
Ariizumi
Ken
K
Abe
Yasuhiko
Y
Iijima
Katsunori
K
Imatani
Akira
A
Inomata
Yoshifumi
Y
Kato
Katsuaki
K
Shibuya
Daisuke
D
Aida
Shigemitsu
S
Shimosegawa
Tooru
T
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006356:Heartburn / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors