title: Risk factors associated with colonic diverticulosis among patients from a defined geographic area.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only a few data regarding colonic diverticulosis are available in Italy. We examined the frequency of colonic diverticulosis and its associations with risk factors in a homogeneous Northern Sardinian population undergoing colonoscopy for any reason in the last decades.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective single-center study. Medical records of patients undergoing colonoscopy for any indication between 1995 and 2013 were reviewed. Demographic information including age, gender, geographic area (urban, rural), marital status, smoking habit, occupation, body mass index, and comorbidities were collected. Presence, number, and extension of diverticula were assessed by colonoscopy. The diagnosis of diverticulosis was defined by the presence of more than five diverticula.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 4458 records were collected (39.8 % males). Analysis by birth cohorts showed a significant progressive age-related increase in the prevalence of diverticulosis. The average prevalence was 18.9 % without significant variation across the 19-year observation period. In 101 (12.1 %) subjects diverticula were single or few. Seventy-one percent of diverticula were located predominantly in the left side, 2 % in the right side, and 14.3 % were spread throughout the colon. There was a significant association with obesity but not with smoking habits, marital status, or urban versus rural environment. A strong association was observed between the presence of diverticulosis and cardiovascular and other gastrointestinal and lung disease (p < 0.0001). These associations were also confirmed by the logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this endoscopic study, colonic diverticulosis in Northern Sardinia showed prevalence similar to other series in Western countries, and it was predominantly left sided and age related.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.|Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Dore
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Pes
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marras
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soro
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Loria
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. gabassot@tin.it.|Clinica di Gastroenterologia ed Epatologia, Ospedale Santa Maria della Misericordia, Piazzale Menghini, 1, 06156, San Sisto, Perugia, Italy. gabassot@tin.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bassotti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003106:Colon / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods; D043963:Diverticulosis, Colonic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance
keywords: Colon; Diverticular disease; Risk factors