Abstract
Aim Coeliac disease (CD) is a chronic digestive disorder which presents in diverse ways and is under-diagnosed. The purpose of this study was to provide insights into suspected CD among Russian schoolchildren, through defining the percentage of participants in an 'at-risk' group for CD in a paediatric cohort, by means of a questionnaire as a primary screening tool. Methods Russian school children of both sexes age 7-18 years were enrolled in a population-based study to identify individuals affected by CD. Each participant was presented with a structured questionnaire based on criteria that can be used to reveal symptomatic signs of CD. Following on, we developed a case-finding strategy for the 'at-risk' group, based on serological and genetic testing and, where possible, endoscopic examination of participants. Results 10.2% of questionnaire respondents (312/3070) were classified as an at-risk group. Pathobiological CD analysis of this group returned positive test results for 13.5% of participants (42/312), and 0.6% of them (2/312) had CD confirmed by biopsy sample analysis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that at-risk groups among children with symptomatic or some oligosymptomatic CD presentations can be identified through adopting a questionnaire as part of a population-based screening survey, if generally accepted screening programs are inaccessible.