Celiac Wire

Evidence map

Celiac epidemiology: what the evidence base looks like

12 publications, 0 of them trials and 7 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 3 min read 12 citations

What the evidence on celiac epidemiology is made of Of 12 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 7 meta-analysis, 4 review, 1 other. 741meta-analysis (7)review (4)other (1)
12 publications, by study type. Volume is not strength — the same count can be a settled question or a pile of commentary, and which one it is depends almost entirely on this breakdown. Harvested from PubMed and Crossref; publication type as recorded by the source.

What this literature is made of

The synthesis is ahead of the primary literature here — reviews and meta-analyses drawing on a modest number of underlying studies. Treat confident conclusions with the caution the sample size deserves.

The distinction that matters most is between synthesis and primary research. A meta-analysis pools trials and is the closest thing to a settled answer a field produces. A narrative review is one group's reading of the same material and can be selective without being dishonest. Counting them together, which most citation counts do, obscures exactly the thing you want to know.

When the celiac epidemiology literature was published Publication years for the 12 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards6 papers2015-20193 papers2020-20222 papersBefore 20151 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2025, so this is a field where an answer written today may not hold for long. Publication years as recorded by PubMed and Crossref.

How this page is built

Everything above is computed from the citations this site harvested from PubMed and Crossref, not written by hand. When the weekly harvest finds a new paper on this topic, these counts change and the characterisation changes with them. That is the point: a hand-written claim about how strong an evidence base is starts decaying the day it is written.

Publication type is taken as the source records it. That is imperfect — journals label inconsistently, and a paper indexed as a "review" may be a systematic one — so treat the bands as approximate. They are accurate enough to distinguish a trial literature from a commentary literature, which is the distinction that matters.

The strongest work on this topic

Ordered by study design first, then recency. The full set is listed in the references below.

  1. European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease 2025 Updated Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Coeliac Disease in Adults. Part 1: Diagnostic Approach — Al-Toma A, Zingone F, Branchi F et al., 2025, clinical guideline
  2. Updated joint ESPGHAN/NASPGHAN guidelines for management of Helicobacter pylori infection in children and adolescents (2023) — Homan M, Jones NL, Bontems P et al., 2024, clinical guideline
  3. Autoimmune diseases and adverse pregnancy outcomes: an umbrella review02128-1) — Singh M, Wambua S, Lee SI et al., 2023, systematic review
  4. ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome — Lacy BE, Pimentel M, Brenner DM et al., 2021, clinical guideline
  5. European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease (ESsCD) guideline for coeliac disease and other gluten-related disorders — Al-Toma A, Volta U, Auricchio R et al., 2019, clinical guideline
  6. Global Prevalence of Celiac Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis — Singh P, Arora A, Strand TA et al., 2018, meta-analysis
  7. ACG clinical guidelines: diagnosis and management of celiac disease — Rubio-Tapia A, Hill ID, Kelly CP et al., 2013, clinical guideline
  8. Down Syndrome and Autoimmune Disease — Hom B, Boyd NK, Vogel BN et al., 2024, review
  9. AGA Clinical Practice Update on Evaluation and Management of Belching, Abdominal Bloating, and Distention: Expert Review — Moshiree B, Drossman D, Shaukat A, 2023, review
  10. Dermatitis Herpetiformis: An Update on Diagnosis and Management — Reunala T, Hervonen K, Salmi T, 2021, review
How much research is there on celiac epidemiology?
12 publications are indexed here, of which 0 are trials and 7 are syntheses.
Does more research mean a stronger conclusion?
No. Composition matters more than volume — five randomised trials support a claim far better than fifty commentaries, and citation counts do not distinguish between them.
How current is this?
The most recent paper indexed here is from 2025. The set is refreshed weekly from PubMed and Crossref.
Why does this page not tell me the answer?
Because summarising a literature into a conclusion requires reading it, and doing that automatically is how confident nonsense gets published. This page tells you how much weight a conclusion could bear; the articles on this site do the interpreting.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease 2025 Updated Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Coeliac Disease in Adults. Part 1: Diagnostic Approach Al-Toma A, Zingone F, Branchi F, et al. · United European gastroenterology journal · 2025 · Clinical guideline DOIPubMed 40999951Full text
  2. Updated joint ESPGHAN/NASPGHAN guidelines for management of Helicobacter pylori infection in children and adolescents (2023) Homan M, Jones NL, Bontems P, et al. · Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2024 · Clinical guideline DOIPubMed 39148213
  3. Autoimmune diseases and adverse pregnancy outcomes: an umbrella review Singh M, Wambua S, Lee SI, et al. · Lancet (London, England) · 2023 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 37997130
  4. ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lacy BE, Pimentel M, Brenner DM, et al. · The American journal of gastroenterology · 2021 · Clinical guideline DOIPubMed 33315591
  5. European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease (ESsCD) guideline for coeliac disease and other gluten-related disorders Al-Toma A, Volta U, Auricchio R, et al. · United European gastroenterology journal · 2019 · Clinical guideline DOIPubMed 31210940Full text
  6. Global Prevalence of Celiac Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Singh P, Arora A, Strand TA, et al. · Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2018 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 29551598
  7. ACG clinical guidelines: diagnosis and management of celiac disease Rubio-Tapia A, Hill ID, Kelly CP, et al. · The American journal of gastroenterology · 2013 · Clinical guideline DOIPubMed 23609613Full text
  8. Down Syndrome and Autoimmune Disease Hom B, Boyd NK, Vogel BN, et al. · Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2024 · Review DOIPubMed 38913142Full text
  9. AGA Clinical Practice Update on Evaluation and Management of Belching, Abdominal Bloating, and Distention: Expert Review Moshiree B, Drossman D, Shaukat A · Gastroenterology · 2023 · Review DOIPubMed 37452811
  10. Dermatitis Herpetiformis: An Update on Diagnosis and Management Reunala T, Hervonen K, Salmi T · American journal of clinical dermatology · 2021 · Review DOIPubMed 33432477Full text
  11. Epidemiology of Celiac Disease Ludvigsson JF, Murray JA · Gastroenterology clinics of North America · 2019 · Review DOIPubMed 30711202
  12. Incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders over time and by age, sex, and socioeconomic status: a population-based cohort study of 22 million individuals in the UK Conrad N, Misra S, Verbakel JY, et al. · Lancet (London, England) · 2023 · Journal article DOIPubMed 37156255