Exploration of Clinico-Demographic Characteristics and Lifestyle Risk Factors of Gastroesophageal Reflux Patients in Karawang

<ns2:p>Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a pathological condition resulting from the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus. The prevalence of endoscopically diagnosed GERD in Jakarta is 22.8% and has increased recently. Several risk factors have been identified, such as lifestyle habits and socioeconomic factors. Karawang is a developing area that has unique socioeconomic characteristics and eating habits. Analysis of risk factors is very important for reducing the prevalence of GERD. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of GERD and related factors.Method: This research is a cross-sectional study. The study subjects were patients aged 18 years who received treatment at Karawang Regional Public Hospital using simple random sampling. Subjects were interviewed with a questionnaire containing lifestyle habits and validated GERD questionnaire to diagnose GERD. Risk factor analysis used logistic regression with a significance level of p 0.05.Results: The prevalence of GERD in this study was 55.6%. GERD was more prevalent in women than men (58% vs. 42 %, p = 0.263), albeit insignificant. Factors significantly associated with the prevalence of GERD were age 40 years (OR = 0.126; 95% CI: 0.043-0.369; p = 0.001), which was protective against GERD, spicy eating habits (OR= 5.002; 95% CI: 2.534-9.877; p = 0.001) and NSAID consumption (OR = 2.002; 95% CI = 1.049-3.821; p = 0.035).Conclusion: Factors that significantly associated with the prevalence of GERD in this study were age, consumption of spicy food and consumption of NSAIDs.Keywords: gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire, prevalence, risk factor</ns2:p>