Katarina Johansson

My name is Katarina and I’m a PhD student at the unit for Family Medicine, the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine. I also work as an intern physician at Sundsvalls sjukhus.

About my PhD project:

Background
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease affecting 2-3% of the Swedish population. The only treatment is a life-long gluten-free diet and those untreated have an increased risk for complications. Treatment burden is high and the follow-up as well as the consequences of living with celiac disease are not well studied.

Aims

1. To ascertain whether the Celiac Dietary Adherence Test (CDAT) could contribute in determining adherence to the gluten-free diet in celiac disease patients.
2. To explore the young adults’ experience of adhering to a gluten-free diet and the transition from pediatric care to primary health care as well as expectation on primary health care.
3. To investigate if adolescents and young adults with celiac disease experience socioeconomic consequences of their disease and treatment.
4. To investigate whether young adults with celiac disease have an increased occurrence of other diagnoses.

Methods
Quantitative (clinical and register-based methods) and qualitative methods will be used.

Relevance
This project will contribute to the evidence-base for management of celiac disease in primary health care and increase the knowledge about living with the disease.