Symptoms of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: A Comparative Study between Elderly and Younger Patients in Japan

Mariko Hojo,Yuji Shimada,Kenshi Matsumoto,Hiroya Ueyama,Daisuke Asaoka,Akihito Nagahara,Sumio Watanabe

doi:10.4236/health.2014.614202

Mariko Hojo, Yuji Shimada + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2014.614202

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Journal: Health	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Juntendo University

Abstract

The difference in gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms between elderly and younger GERD patients has not been fully studied. Our aim was to examine if there was any difference in the degree of GERD symptoms between elderly and younger patients with reflux esophagitis. Patients who were diagnosed by endoscopic examination as having reflux esophagitis and who answered the questionnaire on the frequency scale for the symptoms of GERD (FSSG) were included. Elderly and younger adult patients were defined as patients aged 65 and over or less than 65, respectively. 596 subjects were included. 184 subjects (mean 71.1 years; 114 males) were classified into the Elderly group, and 412 subjects (mean 51.2 years; 307 males) into the Younger group. The mean FSSG score of the Elderly and Younger groups was 6.7 and 8.4, respectively (p = 0.0024). Among those with severe esophagitis, the mean FSSG score of the Elderly and Younger groups was 8.5 and 8.7, respectively (p = 0.58). Although elderly patients tended to have less degree of GERD symptoms than younger patients, these findings suggest that there may be no significant age-related difference in complaints of GERD symptoms among severe reflux esophagitis patients.

Highlights

Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common in the United States and Western countries, and recentlyHow to cite this paper: Hojo, M., Nagahara, A., Asaoka, D., Ueyama, H., Shimada, Y., Matsumoto, K. and Watanabe, S. (2014) Symptoms of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: A Comparative Study between Elderly and Younger Patients in Japan
Further analysis on the basis of gender indicated that there was no difference in the FSSG score between the male and female patients, and in each gender, the FSSG score was significantly higher in the Younger adult group than in the Elderly adult group
Similar results were obtained with regard to the FSSG-dysmotility symptoms (DS) scores; there was no difference in the FSSG-related symptoms (RS) score between the Younger and Elderly adult groups (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common in the United States and Western countries, and recentlyHow to cite this paper: Hojo, M., Nagahara, A., Asaoka, D., Ueyama, H., Shimada, Y., Matsumoto, K. and Watanabe, S. (2014) Symptoms of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: A Comparative Study between Elderly and Younger Patients in Japan. Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common in the United States and Western countries, and recently. (2014) Symptoms of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: A Comparative Study between Elderly and Younger Patients in Japan. The percentage of the elderly population has been increasing worldwide. Aging causes anatomical and physiological deterioration of the antireflux mechanisms at the gastro-esophageal junction [2]. Adults tend to have comorbidities such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and many take low-dose aspirin which may disrupt the normal cytoprotective barrier in the mucosa of the esophagus [3]. With the increase in the elderly population, the incidence of GERD is assumed to be increased [2]-[5]

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