Age is one of the risk factors in developing gallstone disease in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence and risk factors of gallstone disease (GSD) in Taiwan.

DESIGN

Descriptive and cross-sectional.

METHODS

A prospective ultrasonographic study of GSD was conducted in 3647 Chinese subjects who received a paid hospital physical check-up. Their demographic characteristics and biochemical parameters were recorded and compared. Ultrasonographic diagnosis revealed 2946 (M/F: 1838/1108) with normal gallbladder, 286 (M/F: 196/90) with gallbladder stones, 100 (M/F: 56/44) with previous cholecystectomy for gallstones, 243 (M/F: 174/69) with gallbladder polyps, 17 (M/F: 10/7) with mixed gallbladder stones/polyps and 35 as 'miscellaneous'. We enrolled subjects showing either gallbladder stones or cholecystectomy for gallstones in the GSD group.

RESULTS

Excluding those subjects with mixed gallbladder stones/polyps, the overall prevalence of GSD in the studied group was 10.7%. The studied factors manifesting an increase in risk for the development of GSD were age (P<0.05), high body mass index (P< 0.05), diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratio: 1.998; P< 0.05) and glucose intolerance (adjusted odds ratio: 2.056; P<0.05) by multivariate analysis. Other demographic characteristics and biochemical parameters, such as body height, ABO blood type, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, lipid profiles, hepatitis B virus infection, liver function and multiparity did not show any correlation to GSD.

CONCLUSIONS

Age, high body mass index, diabetes mellitus and glucose intolerance are the risk factors for developing GSD in Taiwan.