Prevalentie van gediagnosticeerde en ongediagnosticeerde coeliakie in Nederland

To determine the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed coeliac disease in the Dutch general population, and possible differences in health status and socio-economic characteristics between subjects with and without coeliac disease.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Methods

Diagnosed coeliac disease was investigated in 50,760 subjects that who participated in 2 population-based studies performed conducted in 1987-1997, through identification of subjects that who self-reported the use of a gluten-free diet and a subsequent postal inquiry. Undiagnosed coeliac disease was investigated in a randomised sample of 1440 subjects, through serologic screening for coeliac disease and HLA-typing.

Results

The prevalence of diagnosed coeliac disease was 0.016 (95 CI: 0.008-0.031). The prevalence of undiagnosed coeliac disease was 0.35 (95 CI: 0.15-0.81). In women with diagnosed coeliac disease, menarcheal age was significantly higher. There were no other differences between groups.

Conclusion

The prevalence of coeliac disease in the general population of the Netherlands was comparable to other countries, but the number of diagnosed patients was the lowest in Europe.

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2005;149:821-5