CELIAC DISEASE PREVALENCE IN TURKEY: A POPULATION BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

ORHAN SEZGIN^A , BÜNYAMIN SARITAŞ^A , İSMAIL AYDIN^B , TAYYAR ŞAŞMAZ^C ,"EBRU SERINSÖZ LINKE^D

^a Mersin University School of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Mersin , Turkey - ^b Mersin Association of Family Practitioner, Akbelen 70. Yil Family Health Center, Mersin, Turkey - ^c Mersin University School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Mersin, Turkey - ^d Mersin University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Mersin, Turkey

Introduction: Celiac disease affects 0.6 to 1.0% of the population worldwide. Undiagnosed CD has been significantly linked with a nearly 4-fold increase in all-cause mortality. The present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of undiagnosed Celiac Disease (CD) and to study the characteristics of these patients in the adult population in Mersin, Turkey.

Materials and methods: This study was undertaken through the time frame of June 2011- January 2013. Adults aged 18 and older living in Mersin are included in the study. Family physicians and volunteers registered to these family physicians were selected district-wide through random sampling method, stratified sampling method, respectively. Participants were tested for anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) and anti-Deaminated Gliadin Peptide(DGP) IgA and IgG Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Small intestinal biopsies were obtained from the seropositive patients, and they were examined according to the Marsh classification.

Results: 1.554 people participated in the study. Mean age was 42 years and 50,4% were female. 12 (0.77%) of the participants showed anti-tTG/DGP IgA or IgG positivity. The mean age of seropositive participants was 41 years and 83% of them were female. All seropositive participants were either human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ2 or DQ8 positive.

Conclusion: This study is the first population-based prevalence study of CD in Turkish adult population. We found that seroprevalence of CD as 0.77% and biopsy proven CD prevalence as 0.39%. Patients with iron deficiency anemia or with relatives diagnosed as CD must be evaluated closely.