Objectives: Celiac disease (CD) is a common yet largely underdiagnosed disease. This study aimed to test the feasibility of incorporating a non-targeted CD screening in a pediatric outpatient setting and evaluate its short-term impact on children with serological evidence of disease.
Methods: Over five months, 500 children (aged 2-17 years) attending a general pediatric outpatient clinic in Gothenburg, Sweden, were enrolled and surveyed for current symptoms, quality of life, and background characteristics; 481 children were screened for tissue-transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA); repeated tTGA-positivity was defined as CD autoimmunity (CDA). Children with CDA were investigated for CD and for one year monitored for changes in symptoms, and quality of life.
Results: Eleven of 481 (2.3%) screened children had CDA. Children with CDA were younger (median 3.8 years) than those without CDA (8.8 years). No other major between-group differences were reported in background characteristics, symptoms, or quality of life. The screening was well-accepted by the families/participants. During 1-year follow-up, 8 of 11 children with CDA were diagnosed with CD. Children with screening-detected CD reported no significant changes in symptoms and quality of life and the dietary adherence rate was good.
Conclusions: Non-targeted screening for CD was feasible in a general pediatric outpatient setting. While hampered by small sample size, our results are in line with previous screening studies indicating that symptoms do not differentiate CDA from non-CDA children. Also, among an overall minimal-symptomatic group of children, diagnosing CD and installation of treatment did not significantly change their well-being during 1-year follow-up.
Keywords: Celiac disease; gluten-free diet; mass screening; quality of life.