Epidemiology

The exact prevalence of hiatus hernia is unclear due to the differences in diagnostic criteria (1).

• thought to be uncommon in the far East
• in the adult population in North America, the prevalence rate varies between 10% to 80%
• however it is believed to be similar to the prevalence of obesity
• prevalence is also thought to be increasing with age
  • 30% of the population over 50 yrs are thought to have a hiatus hernia. (1,2,3)

Frequency of hiatus hernia is reported to be higher in Western population e.g. – in Norway 16.6% of 670 subjects, in USA 22% of 293 subjects, and in Sweden 14.5% of 1000 subjects who underwent upper gastro intestinal endoscopy were found to have hiatus hernia (3)

90% of patients with marked oesophagitis have a hiatus hernia.

Reference:

• (1) Roman S, Kahrilas PJ. The diagnosis and management of hiatus hernia. BMJ. 2014;349:g6154
• (2) Oesophagus: Heartburn. de Caestecker, J. BMJ, 2001, 323, 736-9.
• (3) van Herwaarden MA, Samsom M, Smout AJ.The role of hiatus hernia in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2004;16(9):831-5