Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study

Sigrid Bjerge Gribsholt; Dóra Körmendiné Farkas; Peter Jepsen; Bjorn Richelsen; Henrik Toft Sorensen

doi:10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077

Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study

Sigrid Bjerge Gribsholt^*, Dóra Körmendiné Farkas, Peter Jepsen, Bjorn Richelsen, Henrik Toft Sorensen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Because of the epidemic rise of obesity, we examined associations between overweight/obesity and incidence of individual GI diseases. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Denmark, 1997-2018. Participants: Using nationwide healthcare registries, we identified All Danes ≥18 years with a hospital diagnosis of overweight/obesity. We created an age- and sex-matched general population comparison cohort. Exposure: A diagnosis code of overweight/obesity. Main Outcomes and Measures: We compared the incidence of hospital-diagnosed GI diseases from 1 year after overweight/obesity diagnosis. Results: We included 129 466 patients with overweight/obesity (70.9% female, median age 49.3 years). Their incidence rate of GI disease was 30.1 per 1000 person years (95% CI: 29.8-30.5) vs 16.7 (95% CI: 16.5-16.8) for comparators, yielding an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.7-1.7). The aHRs indicated elevated risk of all GI disease sub-types in the overweight/obesity cohort, including cholelithiasis: 2.8 (95% CI: 2.7-2.9), cholecystitis: 2.6 (95% CI: 2.4-2.8), acute pancreatitis: 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0-2.4), stomach ulcer: 2.0 (95% CI: 1.9-2.1), cirrhosis: 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7), and obesity-associated GI cancer: 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2-1.3). The aHR for any GI disease was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.4-1.5) in men and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.8-1.9) in women. Among patients 18 to <30 years, the aHR was 2.6 (95% CI: 2.5-2.7) vs 1.3 (95% CI: 1.3-1.4) among individuals ≥70 years. Conclusions and Relevance: Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for a wide range of GI diseases and is expected to become an even greater clinical challenge in the future.

Original language	English
Journal	European Journal of Endocrinology
Volume	192
Issue	5
Pages (from-to)	540-548
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0804-4643
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2025

Keywords

epidemiology
gastrointestinal disorders
obesity
overweight

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10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077

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@article{b4e2ce2faff240139e8546f0ed5e08ca,

title = "Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study",

abstract = "Objective: Obesity is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Because of the epidemic rise of obesity, we examined associations between overweight/obesity and incidence of individual GI diseases. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Denmark, 1997-2018. Participants: Using nationwide healthcare registries, we identified All Danes ≥18 years with a hospital diagnosis of overweight/obesity. We created an age- and sex-matched general population comparison cohort. Exposure: A diagnosis code of overweight/obesity. Main Outcomes and Measures: We compared the incidence of hospital-diagnosed GI diseases from 1 year after overweight/obesity diagnosis. Results: We included 129 466 patients with overweight/obesity (70.9% female, median age 49.3 years). Their incidence rate of GI disease was 30.1 per 1000 person years (95% CI: 29.8-30.5) vs 16.7 (95% CI: 16.5-16.8) for comparators, yielding an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.7-1.7). The aHRs indicated elevated risk of all GI disease sub-types in the overweight/obesity cohort, including cholelithiasis: 2.8 (95% CI: 2.7-2.9), cholecystitis: 2.6 (95% CI: 2.4-2.8), acute pancreatitis: 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0-2.4), stomach ulcer: 2.0 (95% CI: 1.9-2.1), cirrhosis: 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7), and obesity-associated GI cancer: 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2-1.3). The aHR for any GI disease was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.4-1.5) in men and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.8-1.9) in women. Among patients 18 to <30 years, the aHR was 2.6 (95% CI: 2.5-2.7) vs 1.3 (95% CI: 1.3-1.4) among individuals ≥70 years. Conclusions and Relevance: Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for a wide range of GI diseases and is expected to become an even greater clinical challenge in the future.",

keywords = "epidemiology, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, overweight",

author = "Gribsholt, {Sigrid Bjerge} and Farkas, {D{\'o}ra K{\"o}rmendin{\'e}} and Peter Jepsen and Bjorn Richelsen and Sorensen, {Henrik Toft}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s).",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077",

language = "English",

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Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study. / Gribsholt, Sigrid Bjerge ; Farkas, Dóra Körmendiné ; Jepsen, Peter et al.
In: European Journal of Endocrinology, Vol. 192, No. 5, 01.05.2025, p. 540-548.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study

AU - Gribsholt, Sigrid Bjerge

AU - Farkas, Dóra Körmendiné

AU - Jepsen, Peter

AU - Richelsen, Bjorn

AU - Sorensen, Henrik Toft

PY - 2025/5/1

Y1 - 2025/5/1

N2 - Objective: Obesity is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Because of the epidemic rise of obesity, we examined associations between overweight/obesity and incidence of individual GI diseases. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Denmark, 1997-2018. Participants: Using nationwide healthcare registries, we identified All Danes ≥18 years with a hospital diagnosis of overweight/obesity. We created an age- and sex-matched general population comparison cohort. Exposure: A diagnosis code of overweight/obesity. Main Outcomes and Measures: We compared the incidence of hospital-diagnosed GI diseases from 1 year after overweight/obesity diagnosis. Results: We included 129 466 patients with overweight/obesity (70.9% female, median age 49.3 years). Their incidence rate of GI disease was 30.1 per 1000 person years (95% CI: 29.8-30.5) vs 16.7 (95% CI: 16.5-16.8) for comparators, yielding an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.7-1.7). The aHRs indicated elevated risk of all GI disease sub-types in the overweight/obesity cohort, including cholelithiasis: 2.8 (95% CI: 2.7-2.9), cholecystitis: 2.6 (95% CI: 2.4-2.8), acute pancreatitis: 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0-2.4), stomach ulcer: 2.0 (95% CI: 1.9-2.1), cirrhosis: 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7), and obesity-associated GI cancer: 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2-1.3). The aHR for any GI disease was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.4-1.5) in men and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.8-1.9) in women. Among patients 18 to <30 years, the aHR was 2.6 (95% CI: 2.5-2.7) vs 1.3 (95% CI: 1.3-1.4) among individuals ≥70 years. Conclusions and Relevance: Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for a wide range of GI diseases and is expected to become an even greater clinical challenge in the future.

AB - Objective: Obesity is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Because of the epidemic rise of obesity, we examined associations between overweight/obesity and incidence of individual GI diseases. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Denmark, 1997-2018. Participants: Using nationwide healthcare registries, we identified All Danes ≥18 years with a hospital diagnosis of overweight/obesity. We created an age- and sex-matched general population comparison cohort. Exposure: A diagnosis code of overweight/obesity. Main Outcomes and Measures: We compared the incidence of hospital-diagnosed GI diseases from 1 year after overweight/obesity diagnosis. Results: We included 129 466 patients with overweight/obesity (70.9% female, median age 49.3 years). Their incidence rate of GI disease was 30.1 per 1000 person years (95% CI: 29.8-30.5) vs 16.7 (95% CI: 16.5-16.8) for comparators, yielding an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.7-1.7). The aHRs indicated elevated risk of all GI disease sub-types in the overweight/obesity cohort, including cholelithiasis: 2.8 (95% CI: 2.7-2.9), cholecystitis: 2.6 (95% CI: 2.4-2.8), acute pancreatitis: 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0-2.4), stomach ulcer: 2.0 (95% CI: 1.9-2.1), cirrhosis: 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7), and obesity-associated GI cancer: 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2-1.3). The aHR for any GI disease was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.4-1.5) in men and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.8-1.9) in women. Among patients 18 to <30 years, the aHR was 2.6 (95% CI: 2.5-2.7) vs 1.3 (95% CI: 1.3-1.4) among individuals ≥70 years. Conclusions and Relevance: Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for a wide range of GI diseases and is expected to become an even greater clinical challenge in the future.

KW - epidemiology

KW - gastrointestinal disorders

KW - obesity

KW - overweight

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105004685474&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077

DO - 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf077

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 40209099

AN - SCOPUS:105004685474

SN - 0804-4643

VL - 192

SP - 540

EP - 548

JO - European Journal of Endocrinology

JF - European Journal of Endocrinology

IS - 5

ER -

Overweight/obesity and gastrointestinal disease incidence in Denmark - a cohort study

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