PREVALENCE OF CELIAC DISEASE AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG CHILDREN IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Objectives: To assess the epidemiological data for reporting the prevalence, risk factors and the common symptoms of celiac disease among children in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: Two electronic database named PubMed and Google scholar were used to collect the suitable literature for this systematic review by using appropriate key words and filters were applied in all possible ways. Results:A total of 40 literatures were identified from the above mentioned two databases and only 20 were appropriate and after reading the abstract only 7 literature were found to be suitable and one more paper from the references were taken so total of 8 literatures were included in this systematic review. The prevalence of celiac disease on Saudi children varies between 1.5 % to 18.5 % and the common symptoms were found to be abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation. The study also found that children with type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease were suffering from celiac disease. Conclusion: The prevalence of celiac disease on pediatric population is quite high in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia so there is a necessity for establishing the routine screening among the children especially on the high risk groups in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for preventing the complications of celiac disease. Key words: Celiac Disease, Children, Prevalence, Risk factors, Saudi Arabia