Association between body mass index and erosive esophagitis：A meta-analysis

AIM：To conduct a meta-analysis to estimate the determinants of the association between erosive esophagitis （EE）and body mass index（BMI）. METHODS：We identified the studies using PubMed. Studies were selected for analysis based on certain inclusion and exclusion criteria.Data were extracted from each study on the basis of predefined items.Metaanalyses were performed to verify the risk factors,such as obesity and gender. RESULTS：Twenty-one studies were included in this systematic review.These studies demonstrated an association between increasing BMI and the presence of EE[95%confidence interval（CI）：1.35-1.88,overweight,odds ratio（OR）=1.60,P value homogeneity =0.003,95%CI：1.65-2.55,obese,OR=2.05,P 0.01].The heterogeneity disappeared by stratifying for gender.No publication bias was observed in this metaanalysis by the Egger method. CONCLUSION：This analysis demonstrates a positive association between BMI and the presence of EE,especially in males.The risk seems to progressively increase with increasing weight.