Detection of Celiac Disease in Primary Care Practices

Celiac disease probably affects about 1% of the population in both North America and Europe. However, this disease is seriously underdiagnosed in the U.S., where only about 5% of patients with celiac disease are identified. To determine the most common clinical presentations of celiac disease and to assess the utility of active case-finding, researchers conducted a multicenter, prospective study among primary care patients in the U.S. and Canada.

From 2002 to 2004, 2568 adults who visited participating primary care practices were invited to complete surveys about factors associated with celiac disease (family history of celiac disease [in a first- or second-degree relative], unexplained anemia or iron deficiency, recurrent abdominal pain or …