Celiac disease risk varies between birth cohorts, generating hypotheses about causality: evidence from 36 years of population-based follow-up

BMC Gastroenterology

Research Article

Cecilia Olsson¹  Fredinah Namatovu²  Anneli Ivarsson²  Marie Lindkvist²  Olof Sandström³ 

[1] Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden;Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden;Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden;Department of Clinical Sciences, Paediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden;

关键词: Celiac disease;    Children;    Incidence;    Epidemiology;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-230X-14-59

 received in 2014-01-17, accepted in 2014-03-27,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCeliac disease (CD) is a major public health problem with estimated 1-3% prevalence in the general population. In recent years an increase in CD prevalence has been reported both in Sweden and worldwide. This study aimed at examining the annual incidence rate of biopsy-proven celiac disease among children in Sweden over a 36-year period, to assess variations by age, sex and birth cohort, and to assess the clinical impact of these changes.MethodsThe National Swedish Childhood CD Register was used to identify 9107 children aged 0–14.9 years who were diagnosed with CD during the period 1973 to 2009. From 1973 to 1990 the register covered 15% of the nation, this increased to 40% during 1991–1997; a full national coverage was obtained from 1998 onwards. Estimations for the annual incidence rate, cumulative incidence and clinical impact by age groups, calendar month and birth cohorts were made.ResultsCD incidence is continuing to increase in the child population aged 2–14.9 years. A continued variation in CD incidence was observed in children aged 0–1.9 years, characterized by a marked decrease in most recent years. The median age at diagnosis has increased from 1.0 year in the 1970s to 6.8 years in 2009. The average number of new cases has risen from ~200 during 1973–1983 to ~600 during 2004–2009. In the birth cohorts of 2000–2002 the cumulative incidence even exceeded that of the epidemic cohorts at comparable ages. The highest cumulative incidence was observed in the birth cohorts of 1985–1995 and 2000–2002.ConclusionsCD risk varies between birth cohorts, suggesting cyclic environmental and/or lifestyle risk factors in CD etiology. More research on underlying risk factors is required in order to move forward with preventive strategies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Namatovu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014