# Frequency and risk factors of malabsorption in patients presenting at tertiary care hospital, Karachi

## TL;DR

This study examines how often malabsorption occurs in patients at a hospital in Karachi and identifies risk factors like celiac disease and intestinal tuberculosis.

## Contribution

The study identifies celiac disease and intestinal tuberculosis as leading causes of malabsorption in a specific geographic and demographic context.

## Key findings

- Malabsorption syndrome was most commonly observed in males and younger patients.
- Celiac disease and intestinal tuberculosis were the most frequent causes of malabsorption.
- Chronic diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain were the most common symptoms observed.

## Abstract

The objective of this study was to find out frequency and risk factors of malabsorption in patients presenting at tertiary care hospital, Karachi.

This was a prospective-observational study conducted through a non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Ninety two adult patients presenting with a history of chronic diarrhea (diarrhea having duration of more than four weeks), age ≥14 years, both males & females, and diagnosed as malabsorption syndrome visiting out-patient or admitted in the department of Gastroenterology of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi between June 2018 and July 2020 were enrolled. Baseline and clinical data were recorded in a pre-designed questionnaire and analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0.

The overall mean age and standard deviation of patient was 35.42±10.83 years. Diarrhea n=71 (77.17%), fever n=35 (38.04%), abdominal pain n=32 (34.78%), and weight loss n=13 (14.13%) were the most common symptoms observed in our study subjects. Most of the patients had normal upper GI endoscopy (26.56%) while multiple fundal erosions with pre-pyloric ulcer and severe pangastric erythema & classical scalloping of duodenal folds were most common findings observed, 21.87% and 17.18%, respectively.

Our study provides evidence that malabsorption syndrome is most commonly present in males with younger age group and the most common causes were celiac disease and intestinal tuberculosis and most common presentation was diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain.