Family socio-economic status and childhood coeliac disease seem to be unrelated-A cross-sectional screening study.

AIM: The aim of our study was to examine whether there is a difference in coeliac disease prevalence in regard to parents' education level and occupation, and whether this differs between screened and clinically diagnosed children at the age of 12 years.

METHODS

The study, Exploring the Iceberg of Celiacs in Sweden (ETICS), was a school-based screening study of 12-year-old children that was undertaken during the school years 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Data on parental education and occupation were reported from parents of the children. Specifically, by parents of 10 710 children without coeliac disease, 88 children diagnosed with coeliac disease through clinical care, and 231 who were diagnosed during the study.

RESULTS

There were no statistically significant associations between occupation and coeliac disease for either the clinically detected (prevalence ratio 1.16; confidence interval 0.76-1.76) or screening-detected coeliac disease cases (prevalence ratio 0.86; confidence interval 0.66-1.12) in comparison with children with no coeliac disease. Also, there were no statistically significant associations for parental education and coeliac disease diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

There was no apparent relationship between coeliac disease and socio-economic position. Using parents' socio-economic status as a tool to help identify children more likely to have coeliac disease is not recommended.