Exploring the causality between educational attainment and gastroesophageal reflux disease: A Mendelian randomization study

Observational studies suggest that higher educational attainment (EA) contributes to the prevention and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the causality of this relationship is not supported by strong evidence. We used publicly available genetic summary data, including that on EA, GERD, and the common risk of GERD, to prove this causality. Multiple methods in Mendelian randomization (MR) were employed to evaluate the causality. The leave-one-out sensitivity test, MR-Egger regression, and multivariable MR (MVMR) analysis were applied to evaluate the MR results. Higher EA was significantly associated with lower GERD risk (inverse variance weighted method, odds ratio [OR]: 0.979, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.975–0.984, P