Elshennawy Ahmed T, Shatla Ibrahim M, Agwa Ramy H, Alghamdi Hind A, Alghamdi Muattish Turki N, Alnashri Abdullah Mohammad M, Alqarni Sarah Dhaifallah S, Alghamdi Sami Saeed B, Alghamdi Salwa Ibrahim M, Alghamdi Mohammed Abdulhadi M
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha, SAU.
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Jun 24;16(6):e63073. doi: 10.7759/cureus.63073. eCollection 2024 Jun.
Background Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a global gastrointestinal disorder, and obesity is a particular risk factor. Symptoms of GERD, such as heartburn and acid reflux, are caused by abnormal relaxation in the lower esophagus, causing gastric acid reflux. Persistent symptoms can affect the patient's quality of life (QOL) and can cause complications, such as esophageal adenocarcinoma. Management of GERD includes lifestyle changes, antacids, and anti-reflux surgery. Even though GERD is a common disease, few research has been carried out on it in Saudi Arabia. Aim This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of GERD and its associated risk factors among obese individuals in the Al-Baha region population and the effect of GERD on their QOL. Methods A cross-sectional study included 314 obese participants from the Al-Baha region. A questionnaire was filled out to measure the prevalence of GERD, risk factors, and effects on the QOL of the participants. Data were analyzed by the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26.0 (released 2019, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Descriptive statistics and the chi-squared test were applied. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with the incidence of GERD. A -value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 314 patients who met our inclusion criteria completed the survey; 42% of them were women, the mean age of all patients was 35.3 ± 12.9 years, and 38.2% of the patients were diagnosed with GERD. Epigastric pain and burning sensation were the most common symptoms (44.9%). Five out of six domains in the QOL questionnaire showed more effects among GERD participants than non-GERD participants, and the results were statistically significant ( = 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that men are 1.8 times more likely than women to be diagnosed with GERD, and smokers have 2.6 times the risk of being diagnosed with GERD than non-smokers. Conclusion The present study showed a high prevalence of GERD among obese patients in the Al-Baha region, negatively affecting their QOL. Major risk factors included gender, smoking, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Public health programs to raise awareness of these risk factors and lifestyle habits are necessary to improve QOL and prevent complications.
背景 胃食管反流病（GERD）是一种全球性的胃肠道疾病，肥胖是一个特殊的危险因素。GERD的症状，如烧心和胃酸反流，是由食管下段异常松弛引起的，导致胃酸反流。持续的症状会影响患者的生活质量（QOL），并可能引发并发症，如食管腺癌。GERD的治疗包括生活方式改变、使用抗酸剂和抗反流手术。尽管GERD是一种常见疾病，但沙特阿拉伯对其进行的研究很少。
目的 本研究旨在估计巴哈地区人群中肥胖个体的GERD患病率及其相关危险因素，以及GERD对他们生活质量的影响。
方法 一项横断面研究纳入了314名来自巴哈地区的肥胖参与者。通过填写问卷来测量GERD的患病率、危险因素以及对参与者生活质量的影响。数据采用IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 26.0版（2019年发布，IBM公司，纽约州阿蒙克）进行分析。应用描述性统计和卡方检验。采用逻辑回归分析来确定与GERD发病率相关的因素。P值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
结果 共有314名符合纳入标准的患者完成了调查；其中42%为女性，所有患者的平均年龄为35.3±12.9岁，38.2%的患者被诊断为GERD。上腹部疼痛和烧灼感是最常见的症状（44.9%）。生活质量问卷的六个领域中有五个在GERD参与者中比非GERD参与者表现出更大的影响，结果具有统计学意义（P = 0.001）。逻辑回归分析表明，男性被诊断为GERD的可能性是女性的1.8倍，吸烟者被诊断为GERD的风险是非吸烟者的2.6倍。
结论 本研究表明，巴哈地区肥胖患者中GERD的患病率很高，对他们的生活质量产生了负面影响。主要危险因素包括性别、吸烟、血脂异常和高血压。开展提高对这些危险因素和生活习惯认识的公共卫生项目对于改善生活质量和预防并发症是必要的。
