A study on the Risk factors for Gallbladder diseases in El-khoms Teaching Hospital, Libya

Abstract

Gallbladder disease (GBD) is one of the most common causes of hospital admission in the developed countries, resulting in a substantial cost to health system. The aim of this study is on demographic, characteristic of GBD patients and the associated risk factors. This case-control study includes 200 patients (cases) with GBD, randomly selected from surgery department at el-khoms teaching hospital, Libya from 1 October 2007 to 30 May 2008. In addition,200 subjects matched with age & sex from other inpatients not suffering from GBD were chosen as controls. Ethical considerations were taken. A detailed history, physical examination, biochemical measurements and abdominal sonography were done. A well formed questionnaire for each subject was filled and full investigations were done. Of all studied subjects (400), males were 240 (60%) and females were 160 (40%) with a mean age of 49.1 years (ranging from 18 to 70 yrs). The rate of GBD among inpatient cases during the study period were 26% with more predominance among females (f/m ratio 5.6:1). Risk factors for GBDs were: positive family history (OR= 1.9, P<0.05), multipara (OR=2.9, P<0.05), use of oral contraceptive pills (OR=2.98, P<0.046), hormone therapy (OR=1.3, P<0.01), high BMI (OR=1.3, P<0.05) and hyperlipidemia (OR=6.3, P<0.01). The rate of GBD was high. This was partly explained by unfavorable body mass index, lipid levels, higher prevalence of diabetes, and a more frequent use of oral contraceptives and hormone therapy in subjects.