Association of Obesity in Children with Pancreatitis in a Predominantly Hispanic Population at the US-Mexican Border: A Single Center Outpatient Study

Importance: The incidence of pancreatitis has been increasing over the last decade. Limited data are available for pancreatitis in the Hispanic population. The clinical profile of pancreatitis and its association with obesity in a Mexican American population has not been well studied. Objective: To describe prevalence, the characteristics of pancreatitis cases, and determine its association with obesity. Design and Setting: Retrospective review of children from February 2012 to February 2015, at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso (TTUHSC-El Paso) outpatient center. Case/non-case study was used to determine the association of overweight and obesity with pancreatitis. Participants: Children ages 2 - 18 years, only the newly diagnosed pancreatitis cases irrespective of its type excluding patients with traumatic and repeat visit for pancreatitis. Main Outcome and Measures: Pancreatitis and obesity. Results: The prevalence of pancreatitis was estimated as 20 cases in 21,444 patients seen in the outpatient clinic. In multivariable analysis, only obesity and ethnicity were significantly associated with pancreatitis. Obesity was found to be more than 7-fold likely with pancreatitis as compared to non-cases. Overweight was found to be more than 6-fold likely with pancreatitis as compared with non-cases. Our study demonstrates an association between obesity and pancreatitis in the study population. Conclusions and Relevance: Appropriate intervention for managing obesity may reduce the prevalence of pancreatitis and associated co-morbidities. A larger prospective study should be done to determine underlying causes of association between obesity and pancreatitis.