TY - JOUR

T1 - High Prevalence of Celiac Disease Among Danish Adolescents

T2 - A Population-based Study

AU - Crawley, Caecilie

AU - Sander, Stine Dydensborg

AU - Nohr, Ellen Aagaard

AU - Lillevang, Søren Thue

AU - Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

AU - Murray, Joseph

AU - Husby, Steffen

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Objectives:The objective of this study was to establish an unselected cohort of Danish adolescents and estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease (CeD).Methods:The Glutenfunen cohort participants were recruited from an unselected subsample of the Danish National Birth Cohort, defined as participants living in the Island of Funen, Denmark. We invited all 7431 eligible participants in the age range of 15 to 21 years to a clinical visit. CeD diagnosis was based on screening with IgA transglutaminase antibodies (TG2-IgA) and if positive, was followed by duodenal biopsies compatible with CeD (Marsh 2–3). We calculated the prevalence of CeD in the Glutenfunen cohort as the number of CeD cases diagnosed before and during the study divided by the number of participants in the Glutenfunen cohort.Results:We included 1266 participants in the Glutenfunen cohort (17%, 1266/7431). 1.1% (14 of 1266 participants) had CeD diagnosed before entering the cohort and based on the Danish National Patient Register, 0.2% of the nonparticipants (14 of 6165) had a diagnosis of CeD. In total, 2.6% (33 participants) had TG2 IgA above the upper limit of normal. Nineteen participants had duodenal biopsies compatible with CeD. The prevalence of CeD in the Glutenfunen cohort was 2.6% [(14 + 19)/1266].Conclusions:Our study suggests that CeD is much more common than expected among Danish adolescents, comparable to other European countries, and that the majority were asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic and were only found because of the screening procedure.

AB - Objectives:The objective of this study was to establish an unselected cohort of Danish adolescents and estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease (CeD).Methods:The Glutenfunen cohort participants were recruited from an unselected subsample of the Danish National Birth Cohort, defined as participants living in the Island of Funen, Denmark. We invited all 7431 eligible participants in the age range of 15 to 21 years to a clinical visit. CeD diagnosis was based on screening with IgA transglutaminase antibodies (TG2-IgA) and if positive, was followed by duodenal biopsies compatible with CeD (Marsh 2–3). We calculated the prevalence of CeD in the Glutenfunen cohort as the number of CeD cases diagnosed before and during the study divided by the number of participants in the Glutenfunen cohort.Results:We included 1266 participants in the Glutenfunen cohort (17%, 1266/7431). 1.1% (14 of 1266 participants) had CeD diagnosed before entering the cohort and based on the Danish National Patient Register, 0.2% of the nonparticipants (14 of 6165) had a diagnosis of CeD. In total, 2.6% (33 participants) had TG2 IgA above the upper limit of normal. Nineteen participants had duodenal biopsies compatible with CeD. The prevalence of CeD in the Glutenfunen cohort was 2.6% [(14 + 19)/1266].Conclusions:Our study suggests that CeD is much more common than expected among Danish adolescents, comparable to other European countries, and that the majority were asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic and were only found because of the screening procedure.

KW - coeliac autoimmunity

KW - epidemiology

KW - gluten

KW - immunology

KW - screening

U2 - 10.1097/MPG.0000000000003247

DO - 10.1097/MPG.0000000000003247

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34310439

VL - 74

SP - 85

EP - 90

JO - Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

JF - Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

SN - 0277-2116

IS - 1

ER -