Physical activity, obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease in the general population

Table 2 Association between frequency of physical exercise and occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease

	Risk of GERD1
	Normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2)			Overweight (BMI 25 to ≤30 kg/m2)			Obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2)
	n = 2146 (46%)			n = 1859 (40%)			n = 680 (15%)
	OR (95% CI)2	P value	n (%)	OR (95% CI)2	P value	n (%)	OR (95% CI)2	P value
Physical activity3
Low	Reference		495 (27)	Reference		219 (33)	Reference
Intermediate	1.30 (0.75-2.26)	0.35	869 (47)	0.74 (0.46-1.22)	0.24	176 (27)	0.41 (0.22-0.77)	0.01
High	0.99 (0.62-1.60)	0.98	473 (25)	1.34 (0.90-2.00)	0.15	265 (40)	0.83 (0.50-1.35)	0.45

¹Definition of GERD[19]: Self-reported heartburn or regurgitation occurring at least once a week and at least having moderate problems from heartburn or regurgitation. Persons reporting use of medications for heartburn or regurgitation at least once weekly were also included in the group fulfilling the criteria for GERD, irrespective of their severity of the problem;

²Adjusted for gender, age, education level, number of diseases, sleeping problems and tobacco smoking;

³Low = 1-3 times per month or less often, Intermediate = approximately once per week, and High = several times per week. Association between frequency of physical exercise and occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in normal weight people in a random sample of 4910 people from the Swedish general population (226 participants had missing information on BMI). Presented as OR: with 95% CI. GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; BMI: Body mass index; CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio.