Prevalence and ethnic differences in gallbladder disease in the United States

Background & Aims: Gallbladder disease is one of the most common conditions in the United States, but its true prevalence is unknown. A national popul ation-based survey was performed to determine the age, sex, and ethnic dist ribution of gallbladder disease in the United States. Methods: The third Na tional Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted gallb ladder ultrasonography among a representative U.S. sample of more than 14,0 00 persons. The diagnosis of gallbladder disease by detection of gallstones or cholecystectomy was made with-excellent reproducibility. Results: An es timated 6.3 million men and 14.2 million women aged 20-74 years had gallbla dder disease. Age-standardized prevalence was similar for non-Hispanic whit e (8.6%) and Mexican American (8.9%) men, and both were higher than non-His panic black men (5.3%). These relationships persisted with multivariate adj ustment. Among women, age-adjusted prevalence was highest for Mexican Ameri cans (26.7%) followed by non-Hispanic whites (16.6%) and non-Hispanic black s (13.9%). Among women, multivariate adjustment reduced the risk of gallbla dder disease for both Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic blacks compared wi th non-Hispanic whites. Conclusions: More than 20 million persons have gall bladder disease in the United States. Ethnic differences in gallbladder dis ease prevalence differed according to sex and were only partly explained by known risk factors.