Prevalence and risk factors of gastro-esophageal reflux disease among undergraduate medical students from a southern Indian medical school: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Objective

Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects all age groups, and various lifestyle as well as psychological factors are recognized as risk factors for GERD. Undergraduate medical students are exposed to lifestyle changes and psychological stressors. We aimed to study the prevalence of GERD among undergraduate students of a medical school in southern India in a cross-sectional survey using a validated symptom score.

Results

A total of 358 undergraduate medical students participated in the study. There were 188 (52.5%) males and 170 (47.4%) females; the mean (SD) age of the participants was 20.3 (1.5) years. A total of 115 (31.2%) participants had at least one episode of heartburn per week, while 108 (30.1%) participants had at least one episode of regurgitation per week. Heartburn or regurgitation of at least mild severity was present in 115 (32.1%) and 108 (30.16%) of participants respectively. Based on the symptom score, a diagnosis of GERD was made in 18 (5.02%) students. Frequent consumption of carbonated drinks (OR = 3.63 [95% CI 1.39–9.5]; P = 0.008) and frequent consumption of tea or coffee (OR = 4.65 [95% CI 1.2–17.96]; P = 0.026) were significantly associated with a diagnosis of GERD.

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The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3569-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Most cited references 24

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Lifestyle Intervention in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

Eivind Ness-Jensen, Kristian Hveem, Hashem El-Serag … (2016)

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects up to 30% of adults in Western populations and is increasing in prevalence. GERD is associated with lifestyle factors, particularly obesity and tobacco smoking, which also threatens the patient's general health. GERD carries the risk of several adverse outcomes and there is widespread use of potent acid-inhibitors, which are associated with long-term adverse effects. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the role of lifestyle intervention in the treatment of GERD.

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Barriers to healthcare seeking among medical students: a cross sectional study from South India.

Vikas Menon, Siddharth Sarkar, Santosh Guru Kumar (2015)

To determine the barriers to seeking help from healthcare services reported by medical students at an Indian medical school, and to compare the barriers for using physical health services with those for using mental health services.

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Epidemiology and symptom profile of gastroesophageal reflux in the Indian population: report of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology Task Force.

E Raju, Mahesh K. Goenka, Ajay Sav … (2011)

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its complications are thought to be infrequent in India; there are no data from India on the prevalence of and risk factors for GERD. The Indian Society of Gastroenterology formed a task force aiming to study: (a) the frequency and profile of GERD in India, (b) factors including diet associated with GERD. In this prospective, multi-center (12 centers) study, data were obtained using a questionnaire from 3224 subjects regarding the frequency, severity and duration of heartburn, regurgitation and other symptoms of GERD. Data were also obtained regarding their dietary habits, addictions, and lifestyle, and whether any of these were related or had been altered because of symptoms. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate methods. Two hundred and forty-five (7.6%) of 3224 subjects had heartburn and/or regurgitation at least once a week. On univariate analysis, older age (OR 1.012; 95% CI 1.003-1.021), consumption of non-vegetarian and fried foods, aerated drinks, tea/coffee were associated with GERD. Frequency of smoking was similar among subjects with or without GERD. Body mass index (BMI) was similar in subjects with and without GERD. On multivariate analysis, consumption of non-vegetarian food was independently associated with GERD symptoms. Overlap with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome was not uncommon; 21% reported difficulty in passage of stool and 9% had mucus in stools. About 25% of patients had consulted a doctor previously for their gastrointestinal symptoms. 7.6% of Indian subjects have significant GERD symptoms. Consumption of non-vegetarian foods was an independent predictor of GERD. BMI was comparable among subjects with or without GERD.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Ramachandran Arivan: arivan1001@gmail.com

Surendran Deepanjali:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2151-4273

+91-413-2296232 , deepanjali.s@jipmer.edu.in

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Res Notes

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Res Notes

Title: BMC Research Notes

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1756-0500

Publication date (Electronic): 9 July 2018

Publication date PMC-release: 9 July 2018

Publication date Collection: 2018

Volume: 11

Electronic Location Identifier: 448

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000000417678301, GRID grid.414953.e, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, ; 605006, Puducherry, India

[2 ]ISNI 0000000417678301, GRID grid.414953.e, Department of Medicine, , Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, ; 605006, Puducherry, India

Author information

Surendran Deepanjali http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2151-4273

Article

Publisher ID: 3569

DOI: 10.1186/s13104-018-3569-1

PMC ID: 6038284

PubMed ID: 29986748

SO-VID: 5ed80837-81c1-4754-b571-b26263443484

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 1 June 2018

Date accepted : 5 July 2018

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: gastro-esophageal reflux disease,prevalence,medical students,symptom score

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: gastro-esophageal reflux disease, prevalence, medical students, symptom score

Prevalence and risk factors of gastro-esophageal reflux disease among undergraduate medical students from a southern Indian medical school: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

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25th European Students' Conference

Most cited references 24

Lifestyle Intervention in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

Barriers to healthcare seeking among medical students: a cross sectional study from South India.

Epidemiology and symptom profile of gastroesophageal reflux in the Indian population: report of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology Task Force.

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