PURPOSE: Determine the prevalence, clinical-epidemiological characteristics and predictive factors for Barrets Esophagus (BE).METHOD: An analytical and transversal study was conducted, followed by a case-control study nested in a population participating in a gastric cancer screening campaign, from January to June 2008 at the Central Hospital of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP). A BE case was defined due to the endoscopic presence of columnar-appearing mucosa confirmed by intestinal metaplasia at biopsy. Demographic, clinical and endoscopic variables were evaluated, and bivariate and multivariate studies were conducted to identify predictive risk factors, using patients with gastroesophagic reflux and control patients of the study population as control groups.RESULTS: Out of 2273 patients studied, 11 (0.48%) patients with an average age of 52.2 +/- 7.7 years (43-69 year range) suffered from BE, out of which 81.8% were male. The 81.8% were symptomatic, with dyspepsia in 54.5% and with reflux in 27.3%, while 18.2% were asymptomatic. The short-segment BE was more common than the long-segment BE (72.7% versus 27.3%). The predictive factors found after the bivariate and multivariate analysis (comparing cases versus population control group) were: hiatal hernia [OR = 12.1, CI 95% 2.25 64.75], consumption of AINES [OR = 6.72, CI 95% 1.6-29.1] and consumption of alcohol [OR = 4.22, CI 95% 1.1-16.91].CONCLUSIONS: BE prevalence in the study was low. The presence of hiatal hernia, consumption of AINES, and consumption of alcohol were predictive risk factors to develop BE in the study.