Cross-sectional associations with symptomatic gallstones among women in Chile
Abstract
Gallstones (GS) affect 10–20% of adults around the world with a prevalence of around 40% in Chile. Most individuals with GS are asymptomatic, which may reflect underlying differences in disease severity and associated health risks. Few studies have comprehensively assessed factors associated with GS symptomatology. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Chile Biliary Longitudinal Study (Chile BiLS), a prospective cohort of middle-aged Chilean women with ultrasound-diagnosed GS. Symptomatic GS (sGS) was defined as self-report of ever having biliary colic or acute cholecystitis. Associations between sGS and personal and clinical characteristics, socioeconomic status, ultrasound characteristics, medication use, occupational pesticide exposure, and key lifestyle factors were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. Among 4,328 women with gallstones, 40% had symptomatic gallstones (sGS). Compared to women with asymptomatic gallstones (aGS), those with sGS were younger, had lower educational attainment, reported more frequent and intense nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms, and had a higher prevalence of several gallbladder ultrasound abnormalities ( P < 0.05). Current occupational pesticide exposure was positively associated with sGS (aOR: 2.26; 95% CI 1.26, 4.06). In this cross-sectional study of women with ultrasound-confirmed gallstones in the Araucanía region of Chile, sGS were associated with younger age, lower educational attainment, greater gastrointestinal symptom burden, several gallbladder ultrasound abnormalities, and current occupational pesticide exposure. These findings characterize differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic gallstone disease in this population and warrant confirmation in longitudinal studies, particularly for occupational pesticide exposure.
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BibTeX
@article{daniels2026crosssectional,
title = {{Cross-sectional associations with symptomatic gallstones among women in Chile}},
author = {Michael Daniels and Rime Jebai and Ilona Argirion and Ruth M. Pfeiffer and Sandra Cortés and Vanessa Van De Wyngard and Michael Curry and Noldy Mardones and Allan Hildesheim and Paz Cook and Juan Carlos Araya and Catterina Ferreccio and Jill Koshiol},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-74592-3},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74592-3},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Cross-sectional associations with symptomatic gallstones among women in Chile
AU - Michael Daniels
AU - Rime Jebai
AU - Ilona Argirion
AU - Ruth M. Pfeiffer
AU - Sandra Cortés
AU - Vanessa Van De Wyngard
AU - Michael Curry
AU - Noldy Mardones
AU - Allan Hildesheim
AU - Paz Cook
AU - Juan Carlos Araya
AU - Catterina Ferreccio
AU - Jill Koshiol
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-74592-3
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74592-3
AB - Gallstones (GS) affect 10–20% of adults around the world with a prevalence of around 40% in Chile. Most individuals with GS are asymptomatic, which may reflect underlying differences in disease severity and associated health risks. Few studies have comprehensively assessed factors associated with GS symptomatology. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Chile Biliary Longitudinal Study (Chile BiLS), a prospective cohort of middle-aged Chilean women with ultrasound-diagnosed GS. Symptomatic GS (sGS) was defined as self-report of ever having biliary colic or acute cholecystitis. Associations between sGS and personal and clinical characteristics, socioeconomic status, ultrasound characteristics, medication use, occupational pesticide exposure, and key lifestyle factors were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. Among 4,328 women with gallstones, 40% had symptomatic gallstones (sGS). Compared to women with asymptomatic gallstones (aGS), those with sGS were younger, had lower educational attainment, reported more frequent and intense nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms, and had a higher prevalence of several gallbladder ultrasound abnormalities ( P < 0.05). Current occupational pesticide exposure was positively associated with sGS (aOR: 2.26; 95% CI 1.26, 4.06). In this cross-sectional study of women with ultrasound-confirmed gallstones in the Araucanía region of Chile, sGS were associated with younger age, lower educational attainment, greater gastrointestinal symptom burden, several gallbladder ultrasound abnormalities, and current occupational pesticide exposure. These findings characterize differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic gallstone disease in this population and warrant confirmation in longitudinal studies, particularly for occupational pesticide exposure.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -