Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Iran: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From the Persian Cohort Publisher Pubmed

Summary: How common is GERD in Iran? Study finds 21.86% prevalence, linked to smoking & poor sleep. #GERD #RiskFactors

Sadeghi A¹ ; Boustani P¹ ; Mehrpour A² ; Asgari AA¹ ; Sharafkhah M¹ ; Yazdanbod A³ ; Somi MH⁴ ; Nejatizadeh A⁵ ; Moradpour F⁶ ; Rezaeian M⁷ ; Mansourghanaei F⁸ ; Shahriari A⁹ ; Fattahi MR¹⁰ ; Hamzeh B¹¹ Show All Authors
Source: PLoS ONE Published:2024

Abstract

Background This study assessed the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in a general adult population in Iran. The association between GERD and various factors was also evaluated. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study on 163,018 individuals aged over 35 who were enrolled in the PERSIAN cohort. GERD was defined as the occurrence of heartburn and/or regurgitation symptoms at least several days a month. Survey design analysis for pooled data was performed and multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the independent risk factors for GERD. Results The prevalence of GERD in our study was estimated at 21.86% (95% confidence interval:17.4%-36.4%). The mean age of the participants was 49.84 years±9.25 (35–70) and 44.75% of the participants were male. Symptoms of heartburn and regurgitation were reported in 18.65% (n: 29,170) and 6.06% (n: 9,717) of participants, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, several factors were found to be associated with a higher prevalence of GERD: female sex, age >50, current smoking, opium use, weekly consumption of fried foods, frequent consumption of hot tea, less than 6 hours of sleep per night, psychiatric disorders, usage of NSAIDs, and poor oral hygiene, were associated with a higher prevalence of GERD. Conversely, higher education levels and average physical activity were found to be less commonly associated with GERD. Conclusion We found a relatively high prevalence of GERD (21.86%) in this population-based study in Iran. By identifying modifiable risk factors, this research offers opportunities for targeted interventions and lifestyle modifications to reduce the burden of GERD. © 2024 Sadeghi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.