Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms in a large unselected general population in Japan

Table 1 Questionnaire used in this study

Please circle the appropriate responses for each of the following symptoms during a 1-mo period
(1) Do you suffer from the symptom of dysphagia?
	1: yes	2: no
	(a: usually; b: sometimes)
	(c: throat; d: chest; e: stomach)
(2) Do you suffer from the symptom of heartburn?
	1: yes	2: no
	(a: usually; b: sometimes)
(3) Do you suffer from the symptom of abdominal pain?
	1: yes	2: no
	(a: usually; b: sometimes)
	(f: before eating; g: after eating; h: no relation)

Table 2 Disease classification by X ray examinations

Disease classification by X-rays	n (%)	Male/female
Normal	139 167 (86.4)	(49 338/89 829)
Gastric ulcer scar (GU)	2222 (1.4 )	(1648/574)
Duodenal ulcer scar (DU)	2346 (1.5)	(1192/1154)
Gastric & Duodenal scar (GDU)	434 (0.3)	(341/93)
Hiatus hernia (HH)	1198 (0.7)	(404/794)
Cancer suspected	15 616 (9.7)	(8080/7536)
Total	160 983 (100.0)	(60 774/100 209)

Table 3 The prevalence of heartburn in relation to the frequency of dysphagia

	Dysphagia (usually)	Dysphagia (sometimes)	No dysphagia
n = (male/female)	(247/563)	(2806/6875)	(57 476/92 298)
Heartburn (%)
Male	43.7b	48.7b	13.9
Female	53.8b	52.8b	18.0

Chi-square test,

^bP < 0.001 vs each “no dysphagia” group.

Table 4 The prevalence of dysphagia in relation to the frequency of heartburn

	Heartburn (usually)	Heartburn (sometimes)	No heartburn
n = (Male/female)	(327/680)	(8769/18 984)	(51 092/79 298)
Dysphagia (%)
Male	33.3b	15.7b	3.3
Female	39.1b	19.5b	4.6

Chi-square test,

^bP < 0.001 vs each “no heartburn”group.

Table 5 The prevalence of heartburn and dysphagia in relation to the frequency of abdominal pain

	Abdominal pain (usually)	Abdominal pain (sometimes)	No abdominal pain
n = (male/female)	(76/98)	(2344/4409)	(31 625/43 832)
Heartburn (%)
Male	47.3b	44.1b	13.8
Female	53.0b	48.0b	17.7
Dysphagia (%)
Male	28.9b	21.1b	4.1
Female	26.5b	23.2b	5.6

Chi-square test,

^bP < 0.001 vs each “no abdominal pain” group.