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Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Primary Care: Is There a Link?

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Abstract

Population-based studies have shown that gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) coexist more commonly than expected by chance. We aimed to investigate the relationship between GERD and IBS in primary care. The General Practice Research Database was used to identify patients with a first diagnosis of GERD (n = 6,421) or IBS (n = 2,932). Patients were followed up for 12 months after diagnosis to investigate the incidence of IBS among GERD patients and GERD among IBS patients. The relative risk (RR) of developing IBS was 3.5 (95% CI: 2.3–5.4) in the GERD cohort compared with the comparison cohort. The RR of developing GERD was 2.8 (95% CI: 1.7–4.9) in the IBS cohort compared with the comparison cohort. A first diagnosis of either IBS or GERD significantly increases the risk of a subsequent diagnosis of the other condition.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the participating primary care physicians for their collaboration, and the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program (BCDSP) for providing access to the GPRD. We thank Dr. Catherine Hill, from Oxford PharmaGenesis, who provided editing assistance funded by AstraZeneca.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiological Research (CEIFE), Almirante 28, 2º, 28004, Madrid, Spain

    Ana Ruigómez & Luis Alberto García Rodríguez

  2. AstraZeneca R&D, Mölndal, Sweden

    Mari-Ann Wallander & Saga Johansson

  3. Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Mari-Ann Wallander

  4. Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Saga Johansson

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  1. Ana Ruigómez
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  4. Luis Alberto García Rodríguez
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Correspondence to Ana Ruigómez.

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Ruigómez, A., Wallander, MA., Johansson, S. et al. Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Primary Care: Is There a Link?. Dig Dis Sci 54, 1079–1086 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-008-0462-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-008-0462-0

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