Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The present study was aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of GSD among a sample of general population in Karachi, South Pakistan.

METHODOLOGY: A multistage random sampling method was employed on 30 clusters, where 60 subjects of age>=25 years were randomly recruited from the study population from June 2013 till March 2015. Finally, data was analyzed and logistic regression models were used to find the correlation between selected variables and gallstone disease.

RESULTS: It was found that 184 patients had echogenic mass with shadowing on ultrasonography; yielding a prevalence of 10.2% for gallstones in the study participants. The occurrence was higher in females (14.8%) than in male participants (5.7%). Further, participants over 40 years of age and single, widow/separated subjects had higher incidence of gallstones than married individuals. Moreover, an indirect correlation was obtained with daily physical activity, consumption of fruits, vegetables and fish with development of GD.

CONCLUSION: It can be evaluated that daily physical activity, female gender, increasing age and marital status play an important role in progression of GSD. Understanding pathogenesis and physiological mechanism involved in GSD can help to determine therapeutic options other than surgical treatment.

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