Erosive esophagitis in the Philippines: A comparison between two time periods

Background: In Asia, the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disease diagnosed through endoscopy has increased from 3–9% to 14–16% in the last decade. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of erosive esophagitis (EE) over a span of 10 years in a tertiary care facility in the Philippines. Methods: All patients diagnosed with EE from 1994 to 1997 (period A) and from 2000 to 2003 (period B) were included in the study. The modified Savary–Miller and Los Angeles classifications were used to grade EE for periods A and B, respectively. Results: A total of 15 981 upper endoscopies were evaluated for this study. There was no significant difference in the male: female ratio (period A 1.43:1 vs period B 1.25:1, P = 0.459) and in the mean age of patients with EE (period A 46.4 vs period B 47.5, P = 0.395). The prevalence of EE was significantly higher (P