Global Journal of Health Science; Vol. 9, No. 4; 2017 ISSN 1916-9736 E-ISSN 1916-9744 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 106 The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gallstone among Adults in Karachi, South Pakistan: A Population-Based Study Muhammad Bilal 1 , Abdul Haseeb 2 , Muhammad Saad 3 , Muhammad Ahsan 4 , Madiha Raza 3 , Aafia Ahmed 3 , Waqas Shahnawaz 2 , Bilal Ahmed 3 & Vanita Motiani 5 1 Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan 2 Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan 3 Ziauddin University and Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan 4 Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom 5 The Lyceum, Karachi, Pakistan Correspondence: Muhammad Bilal, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan, A/215, Block: 5, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Pakistan. Tel: 92-324-222-0872. E-mail: bilalmemon_744@hotmail.com Received: December 8, 2015 Accepted: August 4, 2016 Online Published: August 10, 2016 doi:10.5539/gjhs.v9n4p106 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v9n4p106 Abstract Introduction: The present study was aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of GSD among a sample of general population in Karachi, South Pakistan. Methodology: A multistage random sampling method was employed on 30 clusters, where 60 subjects of age≥25 years were randomly recruited from the study population from June 2013 till March 2015. Finally, data was analyzed and logistic regression models were used to find the correlation between selected variables and gallstone disease. Results: It was found that 184 patients had echogenic mass with shadowing on ultrasonography; yielding a prevalence of 10.2% for gallstones in the study participants. The occurrence was higher in females (14.8%) than in male participants (5.7%). Further, participants over 40 years of age and single, widow/separated subjects had higher incidence of gallstones than married individuals. Moreover, an indirect correlation was obtained with daily physical activity, consumption of fruits, vegetables and fish with development of GD. Conclusion: It can be evaluated that daily physical activity, female gender, increasing age and marital status play an important role in progression of GSD. Understanding pathogenesis and physiological mechanism involved in GSD can help to determine therapeutic options other than surgical treatment. Keywords: gallstones, prevalence, risk factors, Karachi, population based 1. Introduction Considered as the most frequent disorder presenting to emergency room (Hung, Liao, Lai, Li, & Chen, 2011), gallstones are the solidifications that can occur in any portion of biliary tract, and when they accumulate in gallbladder they are defined as cholelithiasis. The complications associated with gallstone disease (GSD) such as cholecystitis, pancreatitis, and cholangitis have become significant public health issues imposing a great economic burden worldwide (Shaffer, 2006). A study in 2006 revealed that 700,000 cholecystectomies are performed in US at an expense of $6.5 billion dollars annually (Shaffer, 2006). Similarly, international literature has reported that 50,000 cholecystectomies are performed every year in UK and more than twice of that number of patients are admitted to hospital with gallstone-related episodes (Jazrawi, 2002). GSD was previously regarded as the disease of western population; however, due to changes in pattern of food consumption, it has now become progressively common cause of morbidity in the developing countries (Sachdeva, Khan, Ansari, Khalique, & Anees). In the developed countries like UK, USA and Italy the frequency has been reported 10% to 20% (Hou, Shu, Gao, Ji, Weiss, Yang, & Chow, 2009). In contrast, studies involving ultrasonography technique has reported a prevalence of 22% to 54% in these countries (Silva & Wong, 2005). Furthermore, the incidence of GSD has ranged from 5.2 to 10% in African populations (Kratzer, Mason, & Kächele, 1999), 3.1 to 6.1% in Asian population (Kratzer, Mason, & Kächele, 1999) and 6.3% in Iranian