Premature Birth and Large for Gestational Age Are Associated with Risk of Barrett's Esophagus in Adults.

Background: Birth characteristics, including weight and gestational age, may be associated with risk of Barrett's esophagus (BE), the only known precursor for esophageal adenocarcinoma; however, data are limited.

Aims: To examine associations between various birth characteristics and BE, and whether these associations are mediated by known risk factors for BE.

Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study among eligible Veterans Affairs patients scheduled for an upper endoscopy, and a sample identified from primary care clinics. Participants underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy and completed a survey that captured information on sociodemographic and clinical factors, as well as birth information. We compared 263 patients with histologically confirmed BE to 1416 controls without BE on endoscopy. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Premature birth was independently associated with risk of BE after adjusted by age, sex, race, and other birth characteristics (OR 3.28, 95 % CI 1.22-8.79). On the other hand, large for gestational age was inversely associated with risk of BE (OR 0.46, 95 % CI 0.21-0.98). These effects were stronger for patients with long-segment BE than with short-segment BE. The associations were not mediated by gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms, use of proton pump inhibitors, Helicobacter Pylori infection, waist-hip-ratio, height or the presence of hiatus hernia.

Conclusions: Premature birth and large for gestational age may be associated with risk of BE in adults. These associations do not appear to be mediated through known risk factors for BE; however, additional studies are required to confirm our findings.