Detecting Celiac Disease in Primary Care Practices

Celiac disease is underdiagnosed, in part because symptoms are often nonspecific and in part because the diagnosis is simply not considered by many primary care physicians. In this study, researchers attempted to determine the prevalence of celiac disease among “at-risk” patients in several U.S. and Canadian primary care practices.

Adults making office visits to these practices during a 2-year period were invited to undergo testing for celiac disease if they met at least one of several at-risk criteria, which included unexplained anemia, recurrent abdominal pain or bloating, abnormal liver enzymes, or already-diagnosed autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes or thyroid disease. Of 976 patients who met the enrollment criteria and agreed …