Published online Aug 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i31.4219
Revised: April 10, 2007
Accepted: April 16, 2007
Published online: August 21, 2007
AIM: To accurately assess the prevalence of GERD symptoms in general practice.
METHODS: 4139 consecutive patients (2025 men and 2114 women with a mean age of 43 years), who first attended the Outpatient Department of General Medicine and Emergency Care at Toho University Omori Hospital, were asked to respond to the F-scale questionnaire regardless of their chief complaints. The questionnaire is a self-report instrument, written in a simple and easy-to-understand language, containing 12 questions.
RESULTS: Of 4139 subjects, 1554 patients (37.6%) were identified as GERD according to their F-scale score (> 7). However, there were only 45 consultations (1.1%) for typical GERD symptoms. Although GERD symptoms are common in adults of all ages, the prevalence of GERD was highest in the 20-29 years age group and the age group 70-79 years had the lowest prevalence for both males and females.
CONCLUSION: Although there was a high rate indicating GERD in our primary care population, only 1.1% of outpatients attended our hospital with a chief complaint of GERD symptoms. Since about one-third of GERD patients are affected by atypical symptoms, general physicians need to be cautious about extrapolating these results to patients with a chief complaint other than typical GERD symptoms.