Epidemiologic Risk Factors in a Comparison of a Barrett Esophagus Registry (BarrettNET) and a Case-Control Population in Germany.

Endoscopic screening for Barrett's esophagus as the major precursor lesion for esophageal adenocarcinoma is mostly offered to patients with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, other epidemiologic risk factors might affect the development of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Therefore, efforts to improve the efficiency of screening to find the Barrett's esophagus population "at risk" compared with the normal population are needed. In a cross-sectional analysis, we compared 587 patients with Barrett's esophagus from the multicenter German BarrettNET registry to 1976 healthy subjects from the population-based German KORA cohort, with and without GERD symptoms. Data on demographic and lifestyle factors, including age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, physical activity, and symptoms were collected in a standardized epidemiologic survey. Increased age, male gender, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, low physical activity, low health status, and GERD symptoms were significantly associated with Barrett's esophagus. Surprisingly, among patients stratified for GERD symptoms, these associations did not change. Demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors as well as GERD symptoms were associated with Barrett's esophagus development in Germany, suggesting that a combination of risk factors could be useful in developing individualized screening efforts for patients with Barrett's esophagus and GERD in Germany.