Prevalence of Dysphagia in Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux in Germany

Abstract

Dysphagia is an alarming symptom that raises the possibility of stricture or malignancy. This study compares the prevalence and severity of dysphagia symptoms in subjects with or without gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). In a population-based study, 500 residents of Cologne between the ages of 20 and 90 years [232 (46%) males and 268 (54%) females] were randomly selected from the city register and sent questionnaires with reflux-related questions. Two hundred sixty-eight replies (54%) were accepted into the study. Of these, 45% were men with a median age of 58 years. The median female age was 54 years. Thirty-four percent of the respondents (n=92) admitted having heartburn symptoms. There was no significant gender-based difference. There was little variation in reflux frequency between individual age groups. Twenty-three (25%) of the 92 respondents with reflux reported symptoms more than twice per week. Forty-five percent of this "reflux" group took medications for their heartburn. Swallowing difficulties, predominantly mild, were reported in 11.3% of the respondents. Dysphagia was significantly increased in the reflux group (28%) versus the normal group (3%) (p<0.001). Sixteen percent of respondents with mild and 65% of those with moderate to severe reflux symptoms reported additional dysphagia symptoms (p<0.001). Swallowing problems are common in patients with GERD. Approximately two thirds of patients with long-term and severe reflux symptoms also have dysphagia symptoms. Dysphagia should always be investigated by a physician.

Global prevalence of, and risk factors for, gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms: a meta-analysis

“…The majority of studies used accepted diagnostic criteria to define the presence of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms, with 26 using more than one set of criteria within the same population 11 29 31 36 42 46 51–54 59 64–66 72 75 83 87 88 91 92 95 96 102 108 119. Details of symptom frequency and duration required to meet criteria for gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms in each study are provided in online supplementary table S1.…”

“…In the remaining studies, 30 used a postal questionnaire,19–23 25–27 29 32 36 37 39 54 56 60–62 64 66 69 75 78 81 94 97 100 106 111 118 22 conducted a face-to-face interview,11 31 33 41 45 53 58 59 63 65 67 70 71 76 91 95 99 101 103 107 115 117 16 used a self-completed questionnaire (including internet-based questionnaires),24 35 44 48 50 77 84 85 87–90 96 110 112 114 17 used an interview-administered questionnaire28 30 38 51 55 57 73 80 82 83 86 92 98 102 104 116 119 and 16 used a questionnaire completed during a telephone interview 34 40 42 43 46 47 49 52 68 72 74 79 93 105 108 109. Pooled prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms was highest in the 30 studies that used a postal q...…”

“…There were 70 studies that reported the prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms according to gender 11 20 22 23 24 25 29 32 35 36–39 53 54 55 58 85 88 96 98 62 65 68 69 71 73 75 77 80 82 40 42 43 46 47 49 52 59–61 72 83 84 89–95 99–105 107–110 112–119. Overall, the pooled prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms was slightly higher in women compared with men (16.7% (95% CI 14.9% to 18.6%) vs 15.4% (95% CI 13.5% to 17.4%)).…”

Prevalence and risk factors for dysphagia: a USA community study

“…A strength of the current population‐based research was the ability to undertake a detailed chart review of all subjects with frequent dysphagia and a subset with infrequent and no dysphagia. In a study of the prevalence of dysphagia in subjects with GERD, Bollschweiler et al . showed that dysphagia was significantly increased in the reflux group (28%) vs the normal group (3%), and this association may be explained by acid‐induced inadequate peristalsis.…”

Esophagus-Related Symptoms in First-Degree Relatives of Patients with Achalasia: Is Screening Necessary?

“…However, this difference did not reach statistical significance in our study population of relatives. A comparison of the results reported by several other studies does not demonstrate a consistent correlation between gender and swallowing difficulties [16,18,22]. …”