Global Epidemiology of Gallstones in the 21st Century: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Gallstones are common and associated with substantial health and economic burden. We aimed to comprehensively evaluate the prevalence and incidence of gallstones in the 21st century.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed and Embase to identify studies reporting the prevalence and/or incidence of gallstones between January 1, 2000, and November 18, 2023. Pooled prevalence and incidence were calculated using DerSimonian and Laird's random-effects model. We performed subgroup analyses and meta-regression based on age, sex, geographic location, population setting, and modality of detection to examine sources of heterogeneity.

RESULTS

Based on 115 studies with 32,610,568 participants, the pooled prevalence of gallstones was 6.1% (95% CI, 5.6-6.5). Prevalence was higher in females vs males (7.6% vs 5.4%), in South America vs Asia (11.2% vs 5.1%), in upper-middle-income countries vs high-income countries (8.9% vs 4.0%), and with advancing age. On sensitivity analysis of population-based studies, the prevalence of gallstones was 5.5% (95% CI, 4.1-7.4; n = 44 studies), and when limiting subgroup analysis to imaging-based detection modalities, the prevalence was 6.7% (95% CI, 6.1-7.3; n = 101 studies). Prevalence has been stable over the past 20 years. Based on 12 studies, the incidence of gallstones was 0.47 per 100 person-years (95% CI, 0.37-0.51), without differences between males and females, and with increasing incidence in more recent studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Globally, 6% of the population have gallstones, with higher rates in females and in South America. The incidence of gallstones may be increasing. Our findings call for prioritizing research on the prevention of gallstones.