Prevalence and determinants of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency among older adults: results of a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence and main determinants of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency were investigated in a large population-based sample of older adults by measuring pancreatic elastase-1 in stool.


METHODS
The study comprised 914 participants aged 50 to 75 years recruited by their general practitioner during a general health examination. All participants and their physicians were asked to fill out a standardized questionnaire which contained information on socio-demographic and lifestyle factors as well as medical history. Native stool was examined for pancreatic elastase-1 with a commercially available ELISA (ScheBo Tech, Giessen, Germany).


RESULTS
Overall, 524 women and 390 men aged 50 to 75 years (mean age 61.9 years) were included in the analysis. In total, 105 (11.5%) of the 914 subjects showed signs of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) with =200 microg elastase-1/g stool, and 47 (5.1%) subjects showed signs of a severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (SEPI, < 100 microg elastase-1/g stool). There was a clear increase in EPI with age. Patients taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors had a lower prevalence than subjects without this medication; these associations persisted after adjustment for covariates.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of EPI increases with age and seems to be tentatively higher in men than in women. However, smoking seems to be an independent risk factor for EPI and SEPI whereas ACE-inhibitor intake might be a protective factor. The latter finding may even point to new options in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis.
Rothenbacher
Dietrich
D
Department of Epidemiology, German Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. rothenbacher@dzfa.uni-heidelberg.de
Löw
Michael
M
Hardt
Philip D
PD
Klör
Hans-Ulrich
HU
Ziegler
Hartwig
H
Brenner
Hermann
H
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D010188:Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000032:analysis*; D010186:Pancreatic Function Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate
D010196:Pancreatic Elastase