[Socioepidemic analysis of sources of information and medical care for a subpopulation of female and male participants in a nationwide informative campaign in Germany on "Danger Signal: Heartburn"].

Whilst the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux is increasing, most people are unaware of its possible consequences. Therefore, in Autumn 2000 a nationwide information campaign was launched on the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and its possible treatments. One part of the information campaign was a telephone hotline which was followed by an interview by phone or a mailed questionnaire. The objective of this was to find out more about the people concerned and their complaints. The subjects of both data sets were on average 53 respectively 57 years old, half of them were female and over 60 % had had heartburn for more than two years. The interview showed that 53 % took notice of the hotline by a press release. The interviewed persons gathered information in general about health-related issues primarily from newspapers and TV reports and from their physician. 81.7 % of the questionnaire sample had already at least one gastroscopy. Another 9.5 % made use of medical services because of their complaints in the last year. 8.8 % used exclusively over-the-counter medication for relief from their complaints. These three groups of different degrees of utilisation differed in respect of age, intensity and duration of the symptom heartburn and lifestyle-factors such as smoking. Those who had a gastroscopy were older, symptoms were more prolonged, more severe, more often and comprised a wider range of symptoms and less cigarette consumption. The analysis of both samples showed that the telephone hotline was used mainly by people who had had their symptoms for a long time and had already been in medical care. The chosen means of information stated by the sample indicate that media are prominently involved in disseminating information and educating the public.