Risk factors for Barrett’s oesophagus in patients with gastro‐oesophageal reflux

Among individuals with gastro‐oesophageal reflux symptoms, those with hiatal hernia and those who consume alcohol appear to have a high prevalence of Barrett's oesophagus, as reported in a study.

This systematic review and meta‐analysis included studies reporting the prevalence of Barrett's oesophagus in individuals with gastro‐oesophageal reflux symptoms based on the presence of one or more proposed risk factors. The prevalence rate was then compared according to the presence or absence of each risk factor.

A total of 7,164 citations were evaluated, of which 13 studies involving 11,856 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. Histologically confirmed Barrett's oesophagus in individuals with gastro‐oesophageal reflux symptoms had a pooled prevalence of 7.0 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 4.8–9.6).

The likelihood of having Barret’s oesophagus were 2.7 times greater in the presence of hiatal hernia (odds ratio [OR], 2.74, 95 percent CI, 1.58–4.75) and 1.5 times higher among individuals who consumed alcohol (OR, 1.51, 95 percent CI, 1.17–1.95).

Other risk factors examined, such as use of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs and/or aspirin (OR, 1.19, 95 percent CI, 1.00–1.42), smoking (OR, 1.14, 95 percent CI, 0.96–1.35), and obesity (OR, 1.10, 95 percent CI, 0.92–1.33) showed no association with Barrett's oesophagus.