Metabolic syndrome is associated with higher rate of gastroesophageal reflux disease: a meta‐analysis

Abstract Background and Aim Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) seriously lowers the quality of life of patients, and its prevalence has gradually increased in recent years. Some studies have showed that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is related to GERD, but the results remain controversial. This study explored the relationship between MetS and GERD through systematic retrieval and analysis of published studies. Methods Retrieve related research from PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Including cohort studies that compare the prevalence of GERD between patients with MetS and patients without, and case‐control studies or cross‐sectional studies that compare the prevalence of MetS between patients with GERD and patients without. In addition to analyzing the relationship between MetS and GERD, individual metabolic components are also analyzed. Use a random effects model (DerSimmonian and Laird) to merge the odd ratio (OR). Cochran's Q test and Higgins' I‐squared statistic were performed to assess heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed by Egger's test. Key Results A total of 103,048 patients from 15 studies were included. The combined results suggest that MetS is a risk factor of GERD (OR: 1.66, 95%CI: 1.38–1.99). Among the individual metabolic components, abdominal obesity (OR: 1.42, 95%CI: 1.22–1.64), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.27–1.78), hyperglycemia (OR: 1.31, 95%CI: 1.07–1.61), and hypertension (OR: 1.19, 95%CI: 1.07–1.33) are risk factors of GERD. Conclusions and Inferences MetS is a risk factor of GERD, and among the abnormal metabolic components that establish the diagnosis of MetS, abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, and hypertension are risk factors of GERD.