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Background: This study assessed the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in a general adult population in Iran. The association between GERD and various factors was also evaluated. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 163,018 individuals aged over 35 who were enrolled in the PERSIAN cohort. GERD was defined as the occurrence of heartburn and/or regurgitation symptoms at least several days a month. Survey design analysis for pooled data was performed and multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the independent risk factors for GERD. Results: The prevalence of GERD in our study was estimated at 21.86% (95% confidence interval:17.4%-36.4%). The mean age of the participants was 49.84 years±9.25 (35–70) and 44.75% of the participants were male. Symptoms of heartburn and regurgitation were reported in 18.65% (n: 29,170) and 6.06% (n: 9,717) of participants, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, several factors were found to be associated with a higher prevalence of GERD: female sex, age >50, current smoking, opium use, weekly consumption of fried foods, frequent consumption of hot tea, less than 6 hours of sleep per night, psychiatric disorders, usage of NSAIDs, and poor oral hygiene, were associated with a higher prevalence of GERD. Conversely, higher education levels and average physical activity were found to be less commonly associated with GERD. Conclusion: We found a relatively high prevalence of GERD (21.86%) in this population-based study in Iran. By identifying modifiable risk factors, this research offers opportunities for targeted interventions and lifestyle modifications to reduce the burden of GERD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the shared risk factors between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain cancers such as breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC), our study aimed to assess the CVD risk factors among newly diagnosed patients with BC and CRC. The study utilized baseline data from the ongoing Cardiovascular Events in Breast and Colorectal Cancers (CIBC) cohort study conducted in Isfahan since 2019. Only patients who had recently been diagnosed with BC or CRC and had not undergone any treatment were included in the study. Trained interviewers administered questionnaires to collect information on the demographic, socioeconomic, and smoking status of the participants. Additionally, metabolic and physical factors were measured following established guidelines. A total of 542 patients were included in the study, with 394 (72.7%) diagnosed with BC, 147 (27.1%) with CRC, and one patient having both conditions. The average age of BC patients was 49.46±11.15 years, which was younger compared to CRC patients. The majority of patients (90.8%) were nonsmokers, and a significant proportion (91.2%) did not engage in sufficient physical activity. Less than half of the patients exhibited hypertension, while the prevalence of diabetes was comparatively lower. Obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, was more common among BC patients compared to CRC patients. In our population, we observed that patients with CRC had a higher mean age compared to those with BC, and they exhibited a higher prevalence of common metabolic risk factors. On the other hand, obesity was more prevalent among BC patients. In terms of the shared risk factors between CVD and BC, our population experienced menarche within the expected timeframe, and the mean age of menopause was also within the normal range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Understanding the close interaction between the specialties of cardiology and oncology is necessary for early detection of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in cancer patients. For the risk assessment of CVD in Breast and Colorectal Cancers (CIBC) study, in the current study we aimed to validate a questionnaire for the assessment of clinical history in patients with breast cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: We determined the content validity of the questionnaire using the 2 indexes of content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) to examine the specificity, simplicity, clarity, and transparency of the items. Content validity assessment was performed through a panel of experts including 2 oncologists, 5 cardiologists, 2 general practitioners, and 1 epidemiologist. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient in 50 patients. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to examine the reproducibility of the questionnaire during 1 week. RESULTS: The CRC and breast cancer questionnaire were designed with 16 and 32 questions, respectively. To obtain acceptable CVR, 5 and 11 questions were removed from the CRC and breast cancer questionnaires, respectively. Cronbach's alpha was 0.70 in the breast cancer questionnaire and 0.94 in the CRC questionnaire. All questions had a CVI of higher than 80%. The ICC in the breast cancer questionnaire ranged between 0.71 and 0.96 and in CRC questionnaire ranged between 0.78 and 0.98. CONCLUSION: The validity and reliability of our newly developed questionnaire was desirable. The reliability of the breast cancer questions was acceptable and that of the CRC questions was excellent. Thus, thus questionnaire can be used in this group of patients regardless of whether the goal is cardiac care or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]