This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (28)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Gastrointestinal Diseases  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Population-Based Survey of Individuals With Heartburn

Susan A. Oliveria, ScD, MPH; Paul J. Christos, MPH, MS; Nicholas J. Talley, MD, PhD; Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:1592-1598.

Background  Twenty-five million adults experience heartburn daily. To target individuals for prevention programs, characteristics of persons with heartburn and the associated causes of this condition must first be identified.

Methods  We conducted a population-based telephone survey of 2000 individuals with heartburn to describe the cause of the disease, knowledge of risk factors, and prevention strategies.

Results  Lifestyle and work habits, and certain food and beverage consumption, were associated with heartburn. Women reported the onset of heartburn about 5 years later than men. Survey respondents were unaware of the risk factors for heartburn, and sex-dependent differences in knowledge were apparent. Logistic regression modeling identified increasing age, female sex, higher level of education, and frequent vs infrequent heartburn as significant (P<.02) predictors of whether patients told a physician about their heartburn symptoms. Increasing age, higher body mass index, and reduced level of education were significant (P<.02) predictors of frequent vs infrequent heartburn in this study population.

Conclusion  The findings of this study provide a framework for the development of a heartburn prevention program based on lifestyle modification.

From the Strang Cancer Prevention Center (Drs Oliveria and Dannenberg and Mr Christos) and the Departments of Public Health (Dr Oliveria and Mr Christos) and Medicine (Dr Dannenberg), Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY; and the Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Nepean Hospital, Sydney, Australia (Dr Talley). Dr Oliveria is now with the Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Archives of Internal Medicine Reader's Choice: Continuing Medical Education
Arch Intern Med. 1999;159(14):1630-1631.
FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Exploring the Association Between Elevated Body Mass Index and Barrett's Esophagus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Kamat et al.
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2009;87:655-662.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Carbonated soft drinks and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma: a population-based case-control study.
Lagergren et al.
JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst 2006;98:1158-1161.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Body-mass index and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux in women.
Jacobson et al.
NEJM 2006;354:2340-2348.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Beyond heartburn: a systematic review of the extra-oesophageal spectrum of reflux-induced disease
Hungin et al.
Fam Pract 2005;22:591-603.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Meta-Analysis: Obesity and the Risk for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Its Complications
Hampel et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2005;143:199-211.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Epidemiology of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a systematic review
Dent et al.
Gut 2005;54:710-717.
FULL TEXT  

Lifestyle related risk factors in the aetiology of gastro-oesophageal reflux
Nilsson et al.
Gut 2004;53:1730-1735.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Assessment of reflux symptom severity: methodological options and their attributes
Bytzer
Gut 2004;53:iv28-iv34.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT