Prevalence and risk factors of gallbladder polyps in primary health care centers among patients examined by abdominal ultrasonography in Qatar: a case–control study

Background: Gallbladder (GB) polyps are raised lesions from the GB wall and projected into its lumen. The prevalence of GB polyps ranged between 4.3% and 12.3%. The clinical presentation of GB polypoid lesions vary, can be nonspecific and vague, and may be asymptomatic. Identifying malignant and premalignant polyps is important to provide treatment early and prevent cancer spread or development of malignancy. Ultrasonography (US) is the first imaging modality widely used in abdominal imaging. It is a noninvasive, rapid, painless, and safe imaging technique, with no radiation; thus, it is considered the best available examination with good sensitivity and specificity for GB polyps. Aim of the work: This study aimed to determine the relative frequency of the GB polyps and its risk factors among patients who underwent abdominal US in Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar. Materials and methods: This was quantitative multicenter observational case–control study nested in a cross-sectional design. For the cross-sectional top-level study, the first step was to assess available abdominal ultrasound studies for the presence of GB polyps and stones. The second step was to perform a case–control study with three groups (a case group and two control groups; first, participants without GB stones and GB polyps; second, patients with GB stones but without GB polyps). Results: The study evaluated the GB images of 7156 individuals. The overall prevalence of GB polyps was 7.4% in the study population. Specifically, the overall prevalence of solitary GB polyp was 4.2% and that of multiple GB polyps was 3.2%. Regarding the size distribution of GB polyps in positive cases, 89.4% were < 6 mm, 9.3% were 69 mm, and 1.3% were ≥ 10 mm. Prevalence rate of selected comorbidities were as follows: liver disease, 1.8%; diabetes mellitus, 25.5%; hypertension, 25.5%; and dyslipidemia, 29.8%. The prevalence in male and female patients was 7.7% and 7%, respectively. The prevalence of GB polyps was higher in south-eastern patients (21.4% of positive cases) and was the highest in the overweight group (8.8%). A higher prevalence was noted in the hypertensive group (hypertensive group, 9.8%; non-hypertensive group, 6.6%) and dyslipidemia group (dyslipidemia group, 7.8%; no dyslipidemia group, 7.2%). Moreover, a higher prevalence was noted in hepatitis B surface (HBS)-positive group (15%) than in the HBS-negative group (8.2%) and slightly higher in Helicobacter pylori antigen positive group than in the negative group. Conclusion: Abdominal US is an important and commonly used imaging modality in the detection of GB polyps. In this study, the prevalence of GB polyps was approximately 7.4%, with higher prevalence in participants who were overweight and had diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.