The Prevalence of the Celiac Disease Among Urban Bedouin Population in Israel

BACKGROUND Celiac disease (CD) is a common, but often under-diagnosed condition with possible serious complications. CD, having a prevalence of about 1% is more common than once thought. Only limited research is available comparing differences between adults and children. A comprehensive Medline search was conducted. No data was found concerning the prevalence of CD among the adult Bedouin population. METHODS The research is retrospective and descriptive. The objective of our research was to determine the prevalence of the CD within adult and child Bedouin populations in urban Israel. A report of all of diagnosed CD patients extracted from the medical computerized information system ("Clicks"). RESULTS In our sample we found the prevalence was 0.51% in children and 0.12% in adults. CONCLUSION In our opinion, one of reasons for the low prevalence level in the Bedouin community might be that typical CD symptoms are less prominent in Bedouin communities than in other communities. But no doubt hypo-diagnosis does exist. We suppose more advanced research about the nature and typical clinical manifestations of CD within the Bedouin population need to be investigated. Medical personnel working within the Bedouin community needs information concerning CD and the characteristics of diagnosis and treatment in the Bedouin community. The Bedouin community itself needs more information concerning CD and the importance of treatment, which could also improve early diagnosis and compliance.