S1367 Prevalence of Celiac Disease in an Emirati Irritable Bowel Syndrome Cohort

Abstract

Introduction: Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune condition with a worldwide prevalence of 0.5-1%. Despite being traditionally reported in countries with White populations, Celiac disease is now been increasingly recognised in other regions. Celiac disease is a disease of mimics and the presentation varies from minimal to no symptoms to a host of gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. Current international guidelines recommend screening for Celiac disease in IBS patients. A White cohort from Finland found a 0.4% prevalence of Celiac disease in IBS patients. However, little is known about the prevalence of Celiac disease among Middle-eastern and specifically Emirati IBS patients. We sought to investigate the prevalence of Celiac disease among patients with IBS that were seen at the authors’ institution. Methods: This was a cross-sectional prevalence study of adult IBS patients ( > 18 years) who were seen in the outpatient setting at the authors’ institution between January 1, 2015 and March 31, 2020. Patients were identified based on ICD-10 codes for IBS [K58.90, K58.00]. Simple summary statistics were performed to calculate demographics and other characteristics of the sample population as well as the prevalence of Celiac disease. Results: 440 patients with IBS were identified during the study period. Fifty-nine percent were females and 41% were males. The mean age of the study population was 39 years. 209 of these patients underwent serological testing for Celiac disease. Four (1.9%) patients had Celiac disease based on serological testing. Conclusion: Based on this Emirati cohort, the prevalence of Celiac disease among IBS patients in the Middle East may be higher than global estimates. This is an important finding as until now, testing for Celiac disease was not being routinely performed in the UAE among Emirati patients with IBS. This study adds to evidence for the recommendation to screen patients with IBS for Celiac disease.