title: Comorbidities are frequent in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease in a tertiary health care hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several aspects of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been studied, but the frequency of comorbidities is not yet fully understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the prevalence of GERD comorbidities in a tertiary care hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively studied 670 consecutive adult patients from the outpatient department of our facility. A diagnosis was established using clinical, endoscopic and/or pHmetry-related findings. Each patient's medical file was reviewed with respect to the presence of other medical conditions and diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 670 patients, 459 (68.6%) were female, and the mean age was 55.94 (17-80 years). We registered 316 patients (47.1%) with the erosive form of GERD and 354 patients (52.9%) with the non-erosive form. A total of 1,664 instances of comorbidities were recorded in 586 patients (87.5%), with the most common being arterial hypertension (21%), hypercholesterolemia (9%), obesity (9%), type II diabetes mellitus (5%) and depression (4%). Two or more comorbidities were present in 437 individuals (64.8%). The occurrence of comorbidities increased with age and was higher in patients with the non-erosive form of GERD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a tertiary referral population, comorbidities were very common, and these may have worsened the already impaired health-related quality of life of these patients. Clinicians caring for GERD patients in this setting must be aware of the likelihood and nature of comorbid disorders and their impact on disease presentation and patient management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo/SP, Brazil. joaquim.prado@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Joaquim Prado P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Moraes-Filho
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Navarro-Rodriguez
authors.forename: Jaime N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Eisig
authors.forename: Ricardo C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Barbuti
authors.forename: Decio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chinzon
authors.forename: Eamonn M M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Quigley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
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