Prevalence and associated clinical factors of GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease) in Filipino hemodialysis patients: A cross-sectional study

Objectives@#This study aimed to determine the prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Filipino patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and investigate the demographic, clinical, and renal profiles of HD patients with and without GERD. @*Methodology@#This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study using a validated GERD questionnaire (GERDQ) with a Filipino translation. Patients above 18 years-old undergoing hemodialysis as outpatients were included. A GERDQ score of ≥8 was regarded as having GERD. Logistic regression analysis was conducted using variables that exhibited a significant correlation coefficient on two group comparisons as factors, with the presence or absence of GERD as the dependent variable. @*Results@#Included in our analysis were 264 patients, from which 36 had a GERDQ score of ≥8 (13.64% 95%CI 9.98-18.35). Factors associated with having a score of ≥8 include the following: (1) having CHD (COR 4.041, 95%CI 1.89-8.64, p<0.001), (2) being on insulin (COR 2.599, 95%CI 1.25-5.42, p=0.011), (3) anemia (COR 4.508, 95%CI 1.91-10.64, p=0.001), (4) diagnosis of both HTNKD and DKD (COR 3.853, 95%CI 1.15-12.96, p=0.029), (5) previous diagnosis of GERD (COR 6.655, 95%CI 3.18-13.91, p<0.001), (6) previous intake of antacids (COR 2.622, 95%CI 1.17-5.89, p=0.020), (7) those employed (COR 2.332, 95%CI 1.15-4.75, p=0.020), (8) alcohol consumption (COR 2.477, 95%CI 1.23-5.01, p=0.012), and (9) smoking (COR 2.405, 95%CI 1.19-4.86, p=0.014). @*Conclusion@#The prevalence of GERD in Filipino HD patients from three centers in Tarlac City was 13.64% and may be associated with several clinical factors such as heart disease, insulin use, anemia, hypertensive and diabetic kidney disease, previous diagnosis of GERD, use of antacids, with employment, smoking, and alcohol use. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship among these clinical factors awaits further studies in a larger number of patients.

Prevalence and associated clinical factors of Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease in Filipino Hemodialysis patients: A cross sectional study

Introduction@#Reflux is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms among dialysis patients. This may be associated with several clinical factors such as comorbidities and subsequent polypharmacy. However, this remains unrecognized and untreated.@*Objectives@# The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in Filipino patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and to investigate associated demographic, clinical, and renal profiles of HD patients with and without GERD.@*Methods@#This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study using a validated GERD questionnaire (GERDQ) translated into Filipino. Patients above 18 years old undergoing hemodialysis as outpatients were included. Several clinical factors such as demographic, clinical, and renal profiles were analyzed based on the absence and presence of GERD with a predetermined cut-off value of eight or above.@*Results@#Included in our analysis were 264 patients, from which 36 had GERDQ score of ≥ 8 (13.64% 95%CI 9.98-18.35). Factors associated with having score of ≥ 8 included the following: (1) having chronic heart disease or CHD (COR 4.041, 95%CI 1.89-8.64, p<0.001), (2) being on insulin (COR 2.599, 95%CI 1.25-5.42, p=0.011), (3) anemia (COR 4.508, 95%CI 1.91-10.64, p=0.001) (4) diagnosis of both hypertensive kidney disease and diabetes kidney disease (COR 3.853, 95%CI 1.15-12.96, p=0.029), (5) previous diagnosis of GERD (COR 6.655, 95%CI 3.18-13.91, p<0.001), (6) previous intake of antacids (COR 2.622, 95%CI 1.17-5.89, p=0.020), (7) being employed (COR 2.332, 95%CI 1.15-4.75, p=0.020) (8) alcohol consumption (COR 2.477, 95%CI 1.23-5.01, p=0.012), and (9) smoking (COR 2.405, 95%CI 1.19-4.86, p=0.014).@*Conclusion@#In our study, the prevalence of GERD in Filipino HD patients was 13.64% and may be associated with several clinical factors such as heart disease, insulin use, anemia, hypertension, diabetic kidney disease, previous diagnosis of GERD, use of antacids, being employed, smoking, and alcohol use. A comprehensive understanding of the relationships between these clinical factors awaits further studies in a larger number of patients.