Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gallstone in Health Screening People

Lee, Jong Kyun; Rhee, Poong Lyul; Lee, Joon Hyeok; Lee, Kyu Taek; Choi, Seong Ho; Noh, Jae Hyung; Kim, Jae Jun; Ko, Kwang Cheol; Paik, Seung Woon; Rhee, Jong Chul

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: For many years, it has been thought that gallstone disease was relatively rare and pigment stone was prevalent in Korea. But a few recent studies showed that 60-70% of gallbladder stones in Korea were cholesterol stone. This study was designed to obtain a prevalence and risk factors for gallstone in Korea.
METHODS
A total of 5,126 persons undergoing routine health screening enrolled in this study. All persons were given a questionnaire about smoking habits, alcoho] consumption, parity, and present illness along with its history of management. Height and body weight were checked. They were examined using ultrasonography and hiochemical test such as lipid profiles and fasting blood glucose. Gallstone disease was defined as the presence of posteriorly shadowing, echogenic, movable structures within the gallbladder as determined by ultrasonography and a history of previous cholecystectomy due to gallstones. Chi-square test and stepwise logistic regression analysis assessed the risk factors for gallstone disease.
RESULTS
The prevalence of gallstone disease in Korean adults(above 20 years old) was 4.7% in men and 5.2% in women. The age-standardized prevalence was 3.1% and 3.4% respectively. Gallstone disease was more frequent in the older age groups(6.6% in the sixth decade, 12.2% in the seventh decade, and 20.4% in the eighth decade). Age, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and diabetes were risk factors for gallstone disease. Smoking, alcohol consumption, parity, and hypercholesterolemia including LDL-C did not differ significantly between persons with and without gallstone disease.
CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of gallstone in Korean adults are 3.1% in men and 3.4% in women. The risk factors for gallstone are age, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and diabetes. Further studies will be needed about the prevalence of gallstone disease in general population according to the composition of gallstone.