Age and Prevalence of Esophageal Reflux Disease in Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Dogo Study

Only limited epidemiological evidence exists regarding the relationship between age and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) among Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purpose of the present study is to investigate this issue among Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 847 Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Subjects were divided into quartiles according to age: (1) 19 aecurrency sign age < 56, (2) 56 aecurrency sign age < 64, (3) 64 aecurrency sign age < 71, and (4) 71 aecurrency sign age < 89. GERD was defined as present when a subject had a Carlsson-Dent self-administered questionnaire (QUEST) score aeyen4. The prevalence of GERD was 31.5 %. Younger age was independently associated with a higher prevalence of GERD: the adjusted odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) for GERD in relation to age < 56, 56 aecurrency sign age < 64, 64 aecurrency sign age < 71, and aeyen71 were 3.73 (2.16-6.53), 1.98 (1.21-3.27), 1.66 (1.05-2.68), and 1.00 (reference), respectively (P for trend = 0.001). Among 201 patients with PPI or histamine H-2-receptor antagonist (H2RA), less than 56 years of age was independently positively associated with GERD: the adjusted OR was 5.68 (95 % CI 1.55-22.18) (P for trend = 0.02). Younger age may be independently positively associated with GERD among Japanese type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, regardless of the use of PPI or H2RA.