Caminati Antonella, Madotto Fabiana, Cesana Giancarlo, Conti Sara, Harari Sergio
U.O. di Pneumologia e Terapia Semi-Intensiva Respiratoria - Servizio di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria ed Emodinamica Polmonare, Ospedale San Giuseppe - Multimedica IRCCS, Milan, Italy Both authors contributed equally
Research Center on Public Health, Dept of Health Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy Both authors contributed equally.
Eur Respir Rev. 2015 Sep;24(137):436-44. doi: 10.1183/16000617.0040-2015.
Data on incidence, prevalence and mortality of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are sparse and vary across studies. The true incidence and prevalence of the disease are unknown. In general, the overall prevalence and incidence reported in European and Asian countries are lower than those reported in American studies. In recent years, the epidemiological approach to IPF has been difficult for many reasons. First, the diagnostic criteria of the disease have changed over time. Secondly, the coding system used for IPF in administrative databases, the most common data source used to study this aspect of the disease, has been modified in the past few years. Finally, the study design, the methodology and the population selected in each of the studies are very different. All these aspects make comparisons among studies very difficult or impossible. In this review, we list the main issues that might arise when comparing different studies and that should be taken into consideration when describing the state of epidemiological knowledge concerning this pathology.
关于特发性肺纤维化（IPF）的发病率、患病率和死亡率的数据稀少，且各研究结果存在差异。该病的真实发病率和患病率尚不清楚。总体而言，欧洲和亚洲国家报告的总体患病率和发病率低于美国研究报告的数据。近年来，由于多种原因，IPF的流行病学研究方法面临困难。首先，该疾病的诊断标准随时间发生了变化。其次，行政数据库中用于IPF的编码系统（研究该疾病这一方面最常用的数据源）在过去几年中已被修改。最后，每项研究的研究设计、方法和所选人群差异很大。所有这些因素使得不同研究之间的比较非常困难甚至无法进行。在本综述中，我们列出了比较不同研究时可能出现的主要问题，以及在描述有关这种病理学的流行病学知识状况时应考虑的问题。
