Gender differences in the age-stratified prevalence of erosive esophagitis and Barrett's epithelium in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
In contrast to Western countries where erosive esophagitis (EE) is more prevalent in males, there is a high incidence of EE in elderly females in Japan. We aimed to examine the gender differences in the age-stratified prevalence of EE and Barrett's epithelium.


METHODS
The study population comprised 869 cases (463 men and 406 women) who had undergone an upper endoscopy at the Gastroenterology Division of Yokohama City University Hospital between August 2005 and July 2006. EE was graded according to the Los Angeles Classification. Barrett's epithelium was diagnosed based on the Prague C & M Criteria.


RESULTS
In contrast to the decrease of the proportion of EE with aging in males, that in females remained constant. The results suggest that the suppressive effect of the increased gastric mucosal atrophy associated with aging was wiped out by the age-related effect of the increased incidence of hiatal hernia. The proportions of Barrett's epithelium in both males and females increased with aging.


CONCLUSIONS
In Japan, the prevalence of elderly females complicated with hiatal hernia, which was partly due to osteoporosis and kyphosis, may affect the proportion of EE and probably Barrett's epithelium.
Akiyama
Tomoyuki
T
Gastroenterology Division, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004, Japan.
Inamori
Masahiko
M
Akimoto
Keiko
K
Iida
Hiroshi
H
Mawatari
Hironori
H
Endo
Hiroki
H
Nozaki
Yuichi
Y
Yoneda
Kyoko
K
Sakamoto
Yasunari
Y
Ikeda
Tamon
T
Fujita
Koji
K
Yoneda
Masato
M
Takahashi
Hirokazu
H
Goto
Ayumu
A
Abe
Yasunobu
Y
Kirikoshi
Hiroyuki
H
Kobayashi
Noritoshi
N
Kubota
Kensuke
K
Saito
Satoru
S
Nakajima
Atsushi
A
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric