Abstract

Background: Symptoms suggestive of esophageal disorder are prevalent among all populations. There have been no studies to estimate the prevalence of the symptoms in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to assess the prevalence of these symptoms, the risk factors, and severity among Taif city population, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire in Arabic language from February to May 2019 among Taif city population, Saudi Arabia. The weblink of the questionnaire was distributed using social media to collect the data needed for the research. The data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23.
Results: Among the total of 503 participants, 71.8% were females and 28.2% were males. The mean age was found to be 25.9 ± 8.2 years with a mean weight of 64.80 ± 19 kg. Among the total, 21.9% of the participants had some systemic disease, whereas 39.2% of them had some form of allergy. The prevalence of regurgitation was 33.6%, heartburn was 46.3%, and chest pain 29.4%. Furthermore, 13.7% of participants reported pain
while swallowing, and 15.9% of them reported it while vomiting. The prevalence of sensations of something sticking in the throat was found to be present in 21.7%, and 15.5% had reported difficulty in swallowing solid food. No association was observed between the age and the prevalence of esophageal symptoms.
Conclusion: The prevalence of the symptoms in the study population was very high. Many factors such as obesity were found to be associated with the symptoms. People with these symptoms had reported severe breathing difficulty. Hence, this study recommends the need of awareness about the symptoms, risk factors, and disorders among the study population.

Key words: Symptoms, suggestive, esophageal disorders, prevalence