Nationwide epidemiological study on gastroesophageal reflux disease and sleep disorders in the Japanese population

To elucidate the relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease and sleep disorders in the Japanese population, we conducted a nationwide survey on the prevalence of heartburn, the cardinal symptom of the disease, and sleep disorders. Questionnaires regarding the frequency of heartburn and sleep disorders were distributed and endoscopic findings were assessed among patients who visited 35 participating institutions from March through September 2005, with a target sample size of 100 consecutive endoscopy patients per institution. A total of 2426 patients were included in the analysis population. The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in patients was 26.5% (n = 644). Mean sleeping time was 6.5 +/- 1.2 h, and 48.3% (n = 1172) of all patients reported experiencing sleep disorders. Sleep disorders were significantly more prevalent among patients with heartburn, at 56.3% (615/1093 patients, P < 0.0001), with the number of sleep disorder events increasing with the frequency of heartburn. Conversely, those with sleep disorders reported experiencing heartburn at a significantly higher rate (approximately 75%). However, sleep disorders occurred in only 51.6% (197/382) of patients with reflux esophagitis, showing no significant difference compared with those without reflux esophagitis. No definite tendency was seen in relation to the severity of reflux esophagitis. In Japanese people, patients with heartburn had a significantly higher prevalence of sleep disorders than those without heartburn.