Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Gastrointestinal Diseases in Korean Americans and Native Koreans Undergoing Screening Endoscopy

• Published in: Gut and liver 2013-09, Vol.7 (5), p.539
• Main Authors: Hee Sun Kim, Su Jung Baik, Kyung Hee Kim, Cho Rong Oh, Jung Hyun Lee, Wan Jae Jo, Hye Kyoung Kim, Eun Young Kim, Min Jung Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• Subjects: Korean Americans; Screening endoscopy
• ISSN: 1976-2283

Background/Aims: In South Korea, health check-ups are readily accessible to the public. We aimed to compare the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal (GI) and lower GI diseas￢es in Korean Americans and native Koreans to determine dif￢ferences and risk factors. Methods: In total, 1,942 subjects who visited Gangnam Severance Hospital from July 2008 to November 2010 for a health check-up were enrolled. Basic characteristics and laboratory data for the subjects were col￢lected. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy were performed. In total, 940 Korean Americans (group 1) and 1,002 native Koreans (group 2) were enrolled. Results: The overall prevalence of GI diseases for each group (group 1 vs group 2) were as follows: reflux esophagitis (RE) (9.65% vs 7.9%), gastric ulcer (2.8% vs 3.4%), duodenal ulcer (2.3% vs 3.6%), gastric cancer (0.4% vs 0.3%), colorectal polyp (35.9% vs 35.6%), colorectal cancer (0.5% vs 0.5%), and hemor￢rhoids (29.4% vs 21.3%). The prevalence of hemorrhoids was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (p=0.001). In the multivariable analysis of group 1, male sex, age over 50 years, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia predicted colorectal polyps. Male sex and high fasting glu￢cose levels were associated with RE. Conclusions: Our study showed that the prevalence of GI diseases (except hemor￢rhoids) in Korean Americans was similar to that observed in native Koreans. Therefore, the Korean guidelines for upper and lower screening endoscopy may be applicable to Korean Americans. (Gut Liver 2013;7:539-545)