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. 2023 Jan 17:16:235-244.
doi: 10.2147/JIR.S395777. eCollection 2023.

Prevalence, General and Periodontal Risk Factors of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in China

Zhiqiang Liu #  1 , Xiaoli Gao #  1 , Lirong Liang  2 , Xuan Zhou  1 , Xiaozhe Han  3 , Ting Yang  4   5   6   7 , Kewu Huang  8 , Yingxiang Lin  8 , Shu Deng  9 , Zuomin Wang  1 , Chen Wang  4   5   6   7   10
Affiliations

Prevalence, General and Periodontal Risk Factors of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in China

Zhiqiang Liu et al. J Inflamm Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: There is insufficient information about the prevalence and risk factors of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in the Chinese adult population. We aimed to assess the prevalence and identify the risk factors of GERD in China.

Methods: We collected data from a nationally representative sample (50,991 subjects) of Chinese adults from a large nation-wide cross-sectional survey. GERD was diagnosed by a standardized Chinese-language GERD questionnaire with a score of ≥ 8. The demographic characteristics, comorbidities and periodontal factors of all participants were collected.

Results: Fifty-thousands-one-hundred-eighty-three participants were finally included in this study. The overall prevalence of GERD was 5.6% (95% CI, 5.4-5.8%) among the general Chinese population aged 20 years or older. Women, smokers, and people with older age, BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2, urban residence, lower education level or comorbidities were more prevalent with GERD (p < 0.001). Symptoms of severe periodontitis (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.28-1.52, p < 0.001) and lower frequency of tooth brushing (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.76-2.29, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with risk of GERD.

Conclusion: Symptom-based GERD is highly prevalent in the Chinese population. Overweight and smoking are major preventable risk factors for GERD. Periodontal factors are novel potential risk factors for GERD and should be given more attention in GERD prevention.

Keywords: epidemiology; gastroesophageal reflux disease; periodontitis; prevalence; risk factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flow diagram of the selection of study participants.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The prevalence of GERD in the total participants and in subgroups. (A) The prevalence of GERD in the total participants and in geography related subgroups. Northern area included north, northeast and northwest: Other area included southwest, east and central south. (B) The prevalence of GERD in non-geography related subgroups. Normal or underweight: body mass index (BMI)<25.0 kg/m2; overweight and obese: BMI≥25.0 kg/m2. Symptoms of severe periodontitis were defined as having tooth mobility and/or natural tooth loss in the past year. P<0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Associations between periodontal risk factors and GERD by multiple logistic regression analyses. Adjusted model 1: multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex and body mass index (BMI); Adjusted model 2: additional adjusted for smoking status, education, residence and comorbidities. Symptoms of severe periodontitis were defined as having tooth mobility and/or natural tooth loss in the past year.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Associations between periodontal risk factors and GERD in subgroups by multiple logistic regression analyses. Multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, education, residence and comorbidities. Symptoms of severe periodontitis were defined as having tooth mobility and/or natural tooth loss in the past year.
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