Gut Liver.  2013 Sep;7(5):539-545.

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

• Kim HS
• Baik SJ
• Kim KH
• Oh CR
• Lee JH
• Jo WJ
• Kim HK
• Kim EY
• Kim MJ

Abstract

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 diseases in Korean Americans and native Koreans to determine differences 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 collected. 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 hemorrhoids (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 glucose levels were associated with RE.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that the prevalence of GI diseases (except hemorrhoids) 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.

Keyword

Korean Americans; Screening endoscopy

MeSH Terms

Asian Americans
Colonoscopy
Colorectal Neoplasms
Duodenal Ulcer
Endoscopy
Endoscopy, Digestive System
Esophagitis, Peptic
Fasting
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Glucose
Hemorrhoids
Humans
Hypercholesterolemia
Hypertriglyceridemia
Male
Mass Screening
Polyps
Prevalence
Republic of Korea
Risk Factors
Stomach Neoplasms
Stomach Ulcer
Glucose