The study, published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, not only looked at erosive esophagitis such as that caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease, known as GERD, but also examined non-erosive reflux disease, known as NERD.

The researchers, led by Dr. You-Ming Li, of the College of Medicine at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, found old age, being male, having a moderate working burden, being divorced/widowed and heavy tea consumption remained significant independent risk factors for erosive esophagitis. Routine consumption of greasy food and constipation were considered significant independent risk factors for NERD.

The investigators looked at 2,231 recruited participants, and found 31.4 percent were diagnosed as having GERD, 10.6 percent were NERD patients, while 20.8 percent had objective findings of reflux esophagitis.