Prevalence

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 | Lupus Erythematosus

The studies on prevalence in the general population also show marked differences. This variability may result from differences in methods of case ascertain and socioeconomic causes. However, geographic differences cannot be excluded and may result from differences in genetic or environmental factors.

In Europe, the study by Hochberg (Hochberg 1987) in England and Wales reported a prevalence in 1987 of 12.5 cases per 100,000 women of all ages, which was increased to 17.7 in women aged 15-64 years. A more recent study by Hopkinson et al. (Hop-kinson et al. 1994) indicates a prevalence of 24.6 cases per 100,000 persons in Nottingham. Johnson et al. (Johnson et al. 1995) reported a prevalence of 27.7 cases per 100,000 persons. The greater prevalence in Europe has been described in Sweden,

Table 3.3. Prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in several studies in Europe
Study location (reference)	Study year	Prevalencea
Finland (Helve 1985)	1978	28.0
England-Wales (Hochberg 1987)	1982	12.5b
Sweden (Nived et al. 1985)	1982	39.0
England (Leicester) (Samanta et al. 1992)	1989	26.1
Iceland (Gudmundsson and Steisson 1990)	1990	36.0
England (Nottingham) (Hopkinson et al. 1994)	1990	24.6
England (Birmingham) (Johnson et al. 1995)	1991	27.7
Ireland (Gourley et al. 1997)	1993	25.4
a Per 100,000 persons (males and females).
b Females only.
Table 3.4. Prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in	several studies in the United States
Study location (reference) Study year	Prevalence3
New York (Siegel and Lee 1973) 1965	14.6
San Francisco (Fessel 1974) 1973	50.8
Rochester (Michet at el. 1985) 1980	40.0
Hawaii (Maskarinec and Katz 1995) 1989	41.8

a Per 100,000 persons (males and females).

where there were 39 registered cases per 100,000 persons (Nived et al. 1985) (Table 3.3). The overall prevalence in the United States has been reported to range from 14.6 to 50.8 cases per 100,000 persons (including white and black people) (Maskarinec and Katz 1995, Michet et al. 1985, Nived et al. 1985, Siegel and Lee 1973) (Table 3.4). In New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, SLE prevalence rates of 15,52, and 21 cases per 100,000 persons, respectively, have been observed (Anstey et al. 1993, Fukase 1980, Meddings and Grennan 1980).