ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Incidentally discovered gallbladder polyp in a health check-up has been increasing in numbers due to the extended use of ultrasonography. Past research has reported on the relationship between body mass index and gallbladder (GB) polyp. As there has been a recent rise in the prevalence of obesity, this research attempted to study GB polyp prevalence and the trend according to time elapse in Korea. METHODS: Retrospective cross sectional research was carried out from the data of Korean Association of Health Promotion, between January 2, 2003 to August 3, 2007 in the subjects who received abdominal ultrasonography. The subjectrs excluded were those below 20 years of age, non-Asian and those who have received cholecystectomy. The number of eligible subjects were 137,135, where 69,493 were males and 67,642 were females. RESULTS: Out of 137,135 subjects, the number of subjects with GB polyp were 5,278, where 3,163 were males and 2,115 were females. According to 2005 census, the age adjusted prevalence was 3.7% (3,656 per 100,000). The prevalence for males was 4,403 per 100,000 (4.4%) and for females 2,943 per 100,000 (2.9%). The prevalence has been increasing for the past five years. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of GB polyp in Korea was found to be higher than the pre-existing reports and the prevalence was higher in males than females. The prevalence is on the increase and there is a need to be more attentive to this issue in the future.