Huibertse LJ, Sijben J, Peters Y, Siersema PD. Self-management and help-seeking behavior for gastroesophageal reflux symptoms: A population-based survey. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(2): 112395 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i2.112395]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Lotte J Huibertse, Doctorate Student, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, Nijmegen 6525 GA, Netherlands. lotte.huibertse@radboudumc.nl
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2026; 32(2): 112395 Published online Jan 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i2.112395
Self-management and help-seeking behavior for gastroesophageal reflux symptoms: A population-based survey
Lotte J Huibertse, Jasmijn Sijben, Yonne Peters, Peter D Siersema
Lotte J Huibertse, Jasmijn Sijben, Yonne Peters, Peter D Siersema, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6525 GA, Netherlands
Peter D Siersema, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015 GD, Netherlands
Author contributions: Huibertse LJ, Sijben J, Peters Y and Siersema PD designed the study; Huibertse LJ and Sijben J collected the data; Huibertse LJ performed the data-analyses; Huibertse LJ drafted the article; Sijben J, Peters Y and Siersema PD revised the article; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Ethics approval was provided by the Regional Ethics Committee (METC) Oost-Nederland, the Netherlands (reference number: 2022-13720).
Informed consent statement: Participants provided online informed consent prior to the start of the survey.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Siersema PD is receiving unrestricted grants from Pentax (Japan), Fujifilm (Japan), Norgine (United Kingdom), Magentiq Eye (Israel), and Sanofi (the Netherlands), and is in the advisory board of Sanofi (the Netherlands). All other authors declare no competing interests.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data are available to researchers upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lotte J Huibertse, Doctorate Student, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, Nijmegen 6525 GA, Netherlands. lotte.huibertse@radboudumc.nl
Received: July 28, 2025 Revised: August 27, 2025 Accepted: November 24, 2025 Published online: January 14, 2026 Processing time: 170 Days and 22.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Despite societal guidelines recommending targeted screening for Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in individuals with gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERS), screening adherence is suboptimal. Current screening approaches fail to identify individuals not seeking medical consultation for GERS or whose GERS are managed with ‘over-the-counter’ (OTC) acid suppressant therapies.
AIM
To assess patients’ self-management and help-seeking behavior for GERS.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study collected data from the Dutch general population aged 18-75 years between January and April 2023 using a web-based survey. The survey included questions regarding self-management (e.g., use of acid suppressant therapy with or without prescription) and help-seeking behavior (e.g., consulting a primary care provider) for GERS. Simple random sampling was performed to select individuals within the target age group. In total, 18156 randomly selected individuals were invited to participate. The study protocol was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT05689918).
RESULTS
Of the 18156 invited individuals, 3214 participants (17.7%) completed the survey, of which 1572 participants (48.9%) reported GERS. Of these, 904 participants (57.5%) had never consulted a primary care provider for these symptoms, of which 331 participants (36.6%) reported taking OTC acid suppressant therapy in the past six months and 100 participants (11.1%) fulfilled the screening criteria for BE and EAC according to the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Guideline.
CONCLUSION
The population fulfilling the screening criteria for BE and EAC is incompletely identified, suggesting potential underutilization of medical consultation. Raising public awareness of GERS as a risk factor for EAC is needed.
Core Tip: The majority of patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) had never undergone prior endoscopic screening. An understanding of patients’ self-management and help-seeking behavior is essential to improve EAC screening adherence. Almost half of the 3214 participants who completed the survey reported gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERS). Over half of the 1572 participants who reported GERS had never consulted a primary care provider for these symptoms whereas over one-third reported taking ‘over-the-counter’ acid suppressant therapy and approximately 11% fulfilled the screening criteria for EAC. Our findings highlight the importance to encourage individuals with long-term GERS to consult a primary care provider.
