Study of the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms and the role of each in relation to the GERD Impact Scale, based on a population of patients admitted for laparoscopic surgery compared to a control group

Introduction
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), demonstrated to impair quality of life (QoL), appears to show significant variation in its prevalence. Estimation of the prevalence is difficult. When defined as at least weekly heartburn and/or acid regurgitation, the prevalence reported in Asia is 2.5–27.6%, in Europe 23.7% and in the US 28.8%.

Aim
The study evaluates the prevalence of GERD symptoms in the assessment of the GERD Impact Scale (GERD-IS) in two age groups of patients.

Material and methods
Evaluation of the prevalence of GERD symptoms with the GERD Impact Scale survey in two groups of patients: younger and older. A total of 2,649 surveys were rated. Statistical analysis was performed using the data analysis software system Statistica version 10.0 and Microsoft Excel.

Results
According to this study the symptoms of GERD included in GERD-IS in northern Poland vary from 0.9–2.4% as daily sensations to 18.9–40.5% occurring sometimes. Individuals with hiatal hernia (HH) were significantly older than those without HH. HH was significantly more frequent in males than females.

Conclusions
Estimation of the prevalence of GERD is difficult, because the medications are widely available and people use them without any consultation. They do not recognize the symptoms as a disease whose treatment can also be surgical. Our analysis shows that the prevalence of symptoms of GERD in northern Poland is as high as 5%. Hence further investigation should be performed and people’s awareness should be raised.