Meta-analysisindependent cross-checkabstract only checked★ key study I-WHT-04 in-depth review
How common is coeliac disease?
Global Prevalence of Celiac Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Overview
Singh P et al.. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2018 · PMID 29551598 · DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2017.06.037
About 1 in 70 have coeliac antibodies and about 1 in 140 biopsy-confirmed disease worldwide.
Does the study support the specific claim? No · Methodological quality: moderate
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Prevalence
- How was the study done?
Meta-analysis
- How many people, animals or samples were studied?
96 studies
- What was actually found?
0.7-1.4%
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Coeliac disease is real and not rare
- What are the study's limitations?
Heterogeneity
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Contradicts denial of gluten disease
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
High
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Causes of symptoms in non-coeliacs
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- Singh P et al.
- Journal
- Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol
- Year
- 2018
- Identifier
- PMID 29551598 DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2017.06.037
- Verification
- verified – PubMed efetch 2026-10-25
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
- none
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
Not stated in PubMed record.
2. Research question
Global prevalence of coeliac disease
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Meta-analysis – Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Population
General populations
- Country
Worldwide
- Period
1991-March 2016
- Sample size
96 articles; 275,818 (serology), 138,792 (biopsy)
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
ESPGHAN-based diagnosis
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
Not applicable
- Comparator
Not applicable
- Endpoints
Seroprevalence; biopsy-confirmed prevalence
- Statistical methods
Pooled prevalence
5. Actual results
- Results
Seroprevalence 1.4% (1.1-1.7%); biopsy-confirmed 0.7% (0.5-0.9%); by region 0.4% South America, 0.5% Africa and North America, 0.6% Asia, 0.8% Europe/Oceania; higher in females (0.6% vs 0.4%) and children (0.9% vs 0.5%).
- Absolute risks
Prevalence 0.7-1.4%
- Authors' conclusion
Coeliac disease is reported worldwide; prevalence 1.4% serology, 0.7% biopsy.
6. Strengths
- Global
7. Weaknesses
- Heterogeneous sources
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- AMSTAR 2
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- some concerns
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
10. Relevance to the specific claim
Shows gluten-related malabsorption is a specific disease of about 1% (C-WHT-02, C-GRN-01, C-GRN-03).
11. Independent contrary findings
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
High.
13. Overall methodological judgement
Key reference for coeliac frequency.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | moderate |
| Risk of bias | some concerns |
| Precision of results | high |
| Directness | direct |
| Reproducibility | replicated |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | consistent |
| Regional transferability | high |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | not applicable |
14. Open questions
Egypt-specific prevalence.
15. Linked fact checks
- White flour coats the absorptive villi of the small intestine like glue and thereby causes malabsorption, which leads to irritable bowel syndrome, iron-deficiency anaemia, vitamin D deficiency, weak bones and teeth, fatty liver and hair loss. – Studies contradicting or limiting the claim
- 'There is no such thing as gluten sensitivity'; the real problem is only that white flour turns into a glue-like substance. – Studies contradicting or limiting the claim
- In a joint live stream on Elawady's channel, a speaker (Elawady or his guest Dr. Tamer El-Baz; speaker turns cannot be identified) describes a coeliac patient on the system who reintroduced gluten-containing toast, and advises pausing it when symptoms appear and reintroducing it later. – Studies contradicting or limiting the claim