Population-based studies of the prevalence of GERD (defined as at least weekly heartburn and/or acid regurgitation, or diagnosed by a physician) included in the review
| Reference | Country | Year of study | Population | Age group (years) | Method of data collection | Invited sample size | Response rate (n (%)) | Recall period | Prevalence of heartburn (n (%))* | Prevalence of regurgitation (n (%))* | Prevalence of heartburn and/or acid regurgitation (n (%))* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | |||||||||||
| Locke et al9 | USA | Not stated | Olmsted County, MN | 25–74 | Postal questionnaire | 2073 | 1511 (72.9) | 1 year | 269 (17.8) | 95 (6.3) | 299 (19.8) |
| Locke et al10 | USA | Not stated | Olmsted County, MN | 25–74 | Postal questionnaire | 2118 | 1524 (72.0) | 1 year | 265 (17.4) | 101 (6.6) | 304 (19.9) |
| Talley et al11 | USA | Not stated | Olmsted County, MN | 30–64 | Postal questionnaire | 1021 | 835 (81.8) | 1 year | 110 (13.2) | 54 (6.5) | – |
| El-Serag et al13 | USA | Not stated | Large employer in Houston, TX | 18–75 | Postal questionnaire | 915 | 496 (54.2) | 1 year | 125 (25.2) | 74 (14.9) | 138 (27.8) |
| Jung et al8 | USA | 2003 | Olmsted County, MN | 20–95 | Postal questionnaire | 4194 | 2273 (54.2) | 1 year | – | – | 411 (18.1) |
| South America | |||||||||||
| Chiocca et al14 | Argentina | 1998 | National (employees and community centres) | 18–80 | Postal questionnaire | 1000 | 839 (83.9) | 1 year | 142 (16.9) | 138 (16.5) | 193 (23.0) |
| Europe | |||||||||||
| Isolauri and Laippala18 | Finland | Not stated | National | >20 | Postal questionnaire | 2500 | 1700 (68.0) | 1 week | 252 (14.8) | 247 (14.5) | – |
| Valle et al22 | Italy | Not stated | Two large employers in Pavia | 21–68 | Physician interview | 768 | 700 (91.1) | 1 year | 54 (7.7) | 46 (6.6) | – |
| Diaz-Rubio et al17 | Spain | 2002 | National | 40–79 | Telephone interview | 8686 | 2500 (71.2)† | 1 year | – | – | 245 (9.8) |
| Terry et al20 | Sweden | 1994–1997 | National‡ | <80 | Face to face interview | 1123 | 815 (72.6) | 1 year | – | – | 136 (16.7) |
| Lofdahl et al15 | Sweden | 2008 | National‡ | 40–59 | Postal questionnaire | 2373 | 1483 (62.5) | 3 months | – | – | 130 (8.8) |
| Ronkainen et al16 | Sweden | Not stated | Kalix/Haparanda | 20–81 | Postal questionnaire | 1365 | 1000 (73.3) | 3 months | – | – | 259 (25.9) |
| Mohammed et al19 | UK | Not stated | National (twin registry) | 19–81 | Postal questionnaire | 8960 | 5032 (56.2) | 1 year | – | – | 706§ (18.0) |
| Thompson and Heaton21 | UK | Not stated | National (employees and elderly residents) | 17–91 | Physician interview | 315 | 301 (95.6) | 1 year | 31 (10.3) | – | – |
| Middle East | |||||||||||
| Nasseri-Moghaddam et al24 | Iran | Not stated | Tehran | 18–65 | Questionnaire, hand delivered and collected | 2500 | 2057 (82.3) | 1 year | 197 (9.6) | 251 (12.2) | 374 (18.2) |
| Nouraie et al25 | Iran | Not stated | Tehran | 18–65 | Face-to-face interview | 3019 | 2561 (84.8) | 6 months | – | – | 543 (21.2) |
| Nouraie et al26 | Iran | 2004–2005 | Tehran | 18–65 | Telephone interview | 1422 | 1202 (84.5) | 3 months | 26 (2.2) | 87 (7.2) | 105 (8.7) |
| Solhpour et al27 | Iran | 2006 | Tehran | 10–80 | Face-to-face interview | 6325 | 5733 (90.6) | 3 months | – | – | 522 (9.1) |
| Mostaghni et al23 | Iran | 2006 | Fars (Qashqai migrating nomads) | ≥25 | Face-to-face interview | 748 | 717 (95.9) | 1 year | – | – | 237 (33.1) |
| Sperber et al29 | Israel | Not stated | National (Jewish) | ≥20 | Telephone interview | 1221 | 981 (80.3) | 1 year | – | – | 91 (9.3) |
| Kitapcioglu et al28 | Turkey | 1998–1999 | Menderes | ≥20 | Face-to-face interview | 758 | 630 (83.1) | 1 year | 63 (10) | 98 (15.6) | 126 (20.0) |
| East Asia | |||||||||||
| Hu et al33 | China | 1996 | Hong Kong (ethnic Chinese) | >18 | Telephone interview | 2640 | 1649 (62.5) | 1 year | – | – | 79 (4.8) |
| Wong et al35 | China | 2002 | Hong Kong (ethnic Chinese) | >18 | Telephone interview | 3605 | 2209 (61.3) | 1 year | – | – | 55 (2.5) |
| Pan et al34 | China | 1996 | Beijing/Shanghai | 18–70 | Assisted self-completed questionnaire | 5000 | 4992 (99.8) | 1 year | 155 (3.1) | – | – |
| Chen et al30 | China | 2003 | Guangzhou/Huizhou | 18–90 | Face-to-face interview | 3514 | 3338 (95.0) | 1 month | 73 (2.2) | 234 (7.0) | 260 (7.8) |
| He et al31 | China | 2007 | Total | 18–80 | Questionnaire, completed at home or at residential committee offices, facilitators on hand | 18 000 | 16 078 (89.3) | 1 month | 289 (1.8) | 675 (4.2) | 829 (5.2) |
| Shanghai | 3151 | – | – | 143 (4.5) | |||||||
| Beijing | 3168 | – | – | 120 (3.8) | |||||||
| Wuhan | 3283 | – | – | 245 (7.5) | |||||||
| Xi'an | 3266 | – | – | 218 (6.7) | |||||||
| Guangzhou | 3210 | – | – | 103 (3.2) | |||||||
| Cho et al32 | South Korea | 2000–2001 | Asan-si | 18–69 | Face-to-face interview | 1807 | 1417 (78.4) | 1 year | 28 (2.0) | 28 (2.0) | 50 (3.5) |
| Australia | |||||||||||
| Eslick and Talley36 | Australia | Not stated | Sydney | ≥18 | Postal questionnaire | 926 | 672 (72.6) | 1 year | – | – | 78 (11.6) |
Studies from the previous review are shaded in grey.1
*In some cases, numerators for percentage calculations have been back-calculated from reported percentages.
†A further 3681 individuals agreed to participate in interviews to be conducted at a later date, although these interviews never took place. Thus, the response rate was 71.2%.
‡Age- and sex-matched to cases of oesophageal adenocarcinoma15 or cases of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma;20 hence >50% male and predominantly of older age.
§This is a twin study, and reports the prevalence of GERD among individuals whose twin also responded to the survey (n=3920). The denominator for percentage calculations is therefore 3920, although 5032 questionnaires were returned in total.
GERD, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.