Epidemiological study of gastro-esophageal reflux disease in rural population

The present survey was conducted to find out the prevalence of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) among rural population in Bangladesh. The survey was carried out between the periods of June and October 2005 in a defined population at Jangalia village of Gazipur district. All respondents were interviewed face-to-face at their home by using a structured questionnaire. Total 3948 respondents were interviewed and 3924 were included in the final analysis. Response rate was 87.73%. Among the respondents male and female were 2089(53.2%) and 1835(46.8%) respectively. Male: female ratio was 1:0.87. The mean±SD age was 33.74±15.52 years. The prevalence of heartburn for at least monthly, weekly and daily episodes was 17.8%, 12.1% and 2.7% respectively. The corresponding figures for acid regurgitation were 19.2%, 10.9% and 1.6% respectively. The prevalence of GERD, as defined by the presence of heartburn and/or acid regurgitation at least once weekly was 19.4%. Prevalence of GERD by scoring system using the questionnaire was 22.1%. The multivariate analysis revealed that the increasing prevalence of GERD in older age group (p>0.05; OR, 1.04; 95% CI 0.31-3.67), men (p>0.05; OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.89-2.36), with smoking habit (p<0.001; OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.94-3.20). Prevalence of GERD was significantly more in housewives (p<0.05; OR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.80-3.63). This can be concluded from the present study that GERD is highly prevalent in the community.