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Low prevalence of celiac disease in French children, a nationwide study
Marwa Hmimou1, Chloé Girard1, Axel Renoux2,3
1Université de Toulouse, Service de Gastroentérologie, Hépatologie, Nutrition et Maladies Héréditaires du Métabolisme, Hôpital des Enfants, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
Background:
There are differences in prevalence and incidence across Europe without updated data for France. The aim of this study was to fill this gap obtaining epidemiological data of French children with celiac disease (CD).
Methods:
We used the French Health Data System (SNDS) to identify <18-year-old patients with CD between 2011 and 22. CD identification: 1/hospitalization stay for CD, or 2/ status of CD as long-term disease, or 3/serological diagnosis (two tests for transglutaminase antibodies (TGA) within 13 months and one endomysium antibodies (EMA) test within seven months after a TGA test).
Results:
41690 children with CD were identified over 2011-2022. The male-to-female sex ratio was 0.88. In 2022, the national prevalence was 0.15% among children, ranging from 0.08% in the North-West to 0.25% in the South-East of France. The incidence rate ranged from 12.4 in 2020 to 17.4 per 100000 children in 2012, with a median age increasing from six in 2011 to seven in 2015. Comorbidities included thyroid disease (1.7%), and type 1 diabetes (9.7%).
Conclusions:
The prevalence of pediatric CD is low in France, with differences across regions. However, the age at diagnosis and the female predominance are in agreement with recent studies.
Impact:
This nationwide study revealed a lower prevalence of CD in French children than in other European countries, with regional variations. The study confirmed the female predominance and the age of seven at diagnosis. These data should be useful to give screening advices, looking for CD even in older children with atypical signs.
