title: Prevalence of chronic pancreatitis: Results of a primary care physician-based population study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on chronic pancreatitis prevalence are scanty and usually limited to hospital-based studies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Investigating chronic pancreatitis prevalence in primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participating primary care physicians reported the prevalence of chronic pancreatitis among their registered patients, environmental factors and disease characteristics. The data were centrally reviewed and chronic pancreatitis cases defined according to M-ANNHEIM criteria for diagnosis and severity and TIGAR-O classification for etiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three primary care physicians participated in the study. According to their judgment, 51 of 36.401 patients had chronic pancreatitis. After reviewing each patient data, 11 turned out to have definite, 5 probable, 19 borderline and 16 uncertain disease. Prevalence was 30.2/100.000 for definite cases and 44.0/100.000 for definite plus probable cases. Of the 16 patients with definite/probable diagnosis, 8 were male, with mean age of 55.6 (±16.7). Four patients had alcoholic etiology, 5 post-acute/recurrent pancreatitis, 6 were deemed to be idiopathic. Four had pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, 10 were receiving pancreatic enzymes, and six had pain. Most patients had initial stage and non-severe disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study investigating the prevalence of chronic pancreatitis in primary care. Results suggest that the prevalence in this context is higher than in hospital-based studies, with specific features, possibly representing an earlier disease stage.
authors.affiliation: Digestive and Liver Disease Unit, S. Andrea Hospital, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: gabriele.capurso@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capurso
authors.affiliation: Digestive and Liver Disease Unit, S. Andrea Hospital, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Archibugi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Piera
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aceti
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balducci
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 1, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 1, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buono
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Camerucci
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cantarini
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Centofanti
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colantonio
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 1, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccarda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cremaschi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 1, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crescenzi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Mauro
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Renzi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filabozzi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiorillo
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giancaspro
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giovannetti
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 5, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanna
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Medori
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 5, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merletti
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nunnari
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 5, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavone
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piacenti
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Almerindo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Scamuffa
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 1, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 5, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taborchi
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 2, Italy.
authors.forename: Biagio
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villanova
authors.affiliation: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiriatti
authors.affiliation: Digestive and Liver Disease Unit, S. Andrea Hospital, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delle Fave
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D010188:Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Chronic pancreatitis; Etiology; Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency; Prevalence; Primary care