5-F risk factors for cholelithiasis (mnemonic)

The 5-F rule refers to risk factors for the development of cholelithiasis in the event of upper abdominal pain:

• fair: more prevalent in the Caucasian population ¹
• fat: BMI >30
• female
• fertile: one or more children
• forty: age ≥40
  • cholelithiasis can occur in young patients with a positive family history; in such cases, the 'familial' factor can substitute for the 'forty' factor ²