2019 Volume 46 Issue 2 Pages 266-272
AIMS: We aimed to clarify the differences in both gender and age of upper gastrointestinal symptoms in health checkup subjects.
METHODS: This study population includes 7,278 subjects who underwent upper endoscopy for health screening in a prospective, multicenter cohort study. Using a self-reporting questionnaire, we investigated the frequencies of upper abdominal symptoms, including heartburn and/or acid regurgitation for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms, early satiation and/or bothersome postprandial fullness for postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) symptoms, and epigastric pain and/or epigastric burning for epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) symptoms. The differences in both gender and age of upper gastrointestinal symptoms were statistically evaluated by the chi-square test.
RESULTS: The proportions of subjects who had GERD, PDS, and EPS symptoms at any frequency and the frequency of 1 day a week or more, were 37.4%, 28.4%, 21.2%, and 7.3%, 5.7%, 3.4%, respectively. The proportion of subjects who had any upper abdominal symptoms at any frequency and the frequency of 1 day a week or more were 48.9% and 10.8% respectively. GERD symptoms were more common in males, but the frequency decreased at age 60 and older. In females, the frequency of GERD increased with age and at over age 70 was higher than that in males. PDS and EPS symptoms were more common in females in all age groups, but the frequency in males decreased at age 60 and older, and the difference between the genders increased with age. Females were more likely to have symptoms overlapping with GERD, PDS, and EPS, whereas males were more likely to have only GERD symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of health checkup subjects had upper abdominal symptoms. Differences were observed in the pattern of upper abdominal symptoms depending on both gender and age.
