Gastroesophageal reflux disease incidence among male patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A single‐center cross‐sectional study in southern Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are among the most common gastrointestinal disorders in which the overlap of these diseases and their syndromes has been frequently reported. In this study, we aimed to evaluate GERD incidence among IBS patients and the related risk factors. METHODS: Male patients aged 18–60 years with an impression of IBS and referred to the gastrointestinal clinic from March 2019 to 2020 in Shiraz, Iran, were included in this study. RESULTS: Among the 163 enrolled patients with an average age of 31.53 ± 9.38 years, 64 (39.3%) were diagnosed with GERD. Based on statistical analysis, there was a significant association between GERD and the IBS patients' age (P = 0.006), smoking (P = 0.011), and alcohol consumption (P = 0.043). Also, GERD among IBS patients was significantly associated with the type of IBS (P < 0.001), with IBS‐D having the lowest incidence (19.4%) and IBS‐M the highest incidence of GERD (66.7%). Based on multivariate analysis, smoking had a reverse and significant correlation with lower incidence of GERD (OR = −1.364; P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that among male IBS patients, younger age, smoking, and alcohol consumption were among the risk factors for GERD. These findings may provide further insight into the best approach to treating these diseases.