RESUMO
Gastro-esophageal disturbances are one of the digestive system health problems with classic symptoms of heartburn and acid regurgitation without any evidence of esophageal or gastric mucosal injury. To clear the relation between excess body weight and unexplained symptoms of GIT. A total of 408 patients who presented at internal medicine Clinic of Zagazig University Hospital with GIT complaint, were included and interviewed according to a well- designed questionnaire. It included questions regarding GIT symptoms and their severity and frequency. Symptoms were defined: "frequent" if occurring daily; "occasional," if weekly; and "severe," if they were sufficiently intense to change lifestyle. Height and weight were also recorded and BMI calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between the presence of each specific GIT symptom and Body Mass Index [BMI]. The odds ratios [OR] for a given specific symptom and 95% confidence intervals [CI] were computed from the coefficients in logistic regression models [SPSS program]. The prevalence of obesity was 25.3%, while 38.1% were overweight. There was an increase in reporting of GI symptoms in obese individuals compared to those with normal BMI who were taken as reference group. Frequent nausea, vomiting, early satiety, epigastric pain, heart burn, regurgitation, postprandial fullness, and dysphagia of obese subjects, were present in 10.4%, 5.6%, 8.9%, 17.2%, 10.2%, 22.1%, 23.5%, and 21.7%, respectively, compared to 7.95%, 1.2%, 6.5%, 3.5%, 4.4%, 11.4%, 17.1%, and 16.6% of normal BMI subjects. BMI showed a positive relationship with frequent vomiting [P<0.05], epigastric pain [P<0.05], regurgitation of food [P<0.05], heart burn [P<0.5], and postprandial fullness [P<0.05]. There is a strong association between excess body weight and some symptoms of GIT disturbance. Recommendation: Advice must be directed to lose weight together with other lifestyle modifications and the use of medication. Our findings have important implications for future studies since even moderate weight gain may cause or exacerbate some symptoms of GIT