Background: The study was designed to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic gallstone disease
in North-East part of Bangladesh.
Materials and methods: Randomly selected asymptomatic persons, unknown to have gallstone
disease, from both rural and urban areas were enrolled. They were subjected to abdominal
ultrasonography and findings were recorded in a data sheet.
Results: Total 1,019 persons (316 males and 703 females) were examined. Age of them varied
from 18 to 80 years with mean age of 37.22 years. Out of them, 61 (6%) persons were found to have
gallstone. Among them, 14 were males and 47 were females. Both male and females of age below
40 years were more affected. Gallstone disease was found more commonly among housewives
and middle class people. Among 61 patients with gallstone, seven were underweight (11.47%), 32
(52.45%) had normal weight and 22 (36.06%) were overweight, obese or extremely obese. But, this
difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.894).
Conclusion: Prevalence of asymptomatic gallstone disease was found in 6% apparently healthy
subjects of North-East part of Bangladesh. It was more prevalent among housewives and middle
class group of population. It is also common among the people of age group below 40 years.