Abstract
Background: The relationship between metabolic syndrome ( MetS) and Barrett's esophagus (BE) is still a challenging issue, and inconsistent results have been reported in different studies. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between MetS and BE. Methods : In this study, we followed the MOOSE protocol and the PRISMA guidelines for reporting the results. All study steps were performed independently by two authors. If necessary, the dispute was resolved by consultation with a third author. The search strategy is designed to find published studies. Comprehensive search was done in the following biomedical databases until July 2019: Cochrane Library, PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Science Direct, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, EBSCO, and Google Scholar search engine. All analyses were performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software Ver.2, while p-value lower than 0.05 was considered significant. Results : In 14 studies with a sample size of 108416, MetS significantly increased the risk of BE (OR=1.315; 95% CI: 1.110-1.558; P<0.001; Heterogeneity: I 2 = 81.55; P<0.001). Sensitivity analysis by omitting one study showed that overall estimates are still robust. Subgroup analysis was significant for continent (P<0.001) and MetS diagnostic criteria (P=0.043), but was not significant for variables of study type (P=0.899), study setting (P=0.115), control groups (P=0.671) and quality of studies (P=0.603). The Begg (P=0.912) and Egger's (P=0.094) tests were not significant; therefore, the publication bias did not play a role in the results. Conclusion: MetS increases the risk of BE compared to control groups. Future studies should examine whether treatment for metabolic syndrome reduces the risk of BE.