Incidence and Prevalence of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Among Adult and Pediatric Populations in the United States.

INTRODUCTION

Published evidence on the epidemiology of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in the USA is limited. This study aimed to estimate the age- and/or sex-standardized incidence and prevalence of diagnosed CSU in the US population.

METHODS

The target population was identified using three anonymized databases: Optum Electronic Health Record (EHR), Optum Clinformatics Data Mart (CDM), and Truven Health MarketScan. The study population consisted of adult (aged ≥ 18 years) and pediatric (aged < 18 years) patients with diagnosed CSU based on ≥ 2 relevant International Classification of Diseases version 9 and/or 10 (ICD-9 and/or ICD-10) codes recorded ≥ 6 weeks apart. The data identification period for Optum EHR and Optum CDM was from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2018, and for MarketScan it was January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2017. In Optum EHR the incidence rate and prevalence were standardized by age and sex as compound strata and by age (adult and pediatric populations separately), and in both Optum CDM and MarketScan, data was standardized by sex as a single stratum of adult and pediatric populations. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rate and prevalence were calculated and reported per 100 person-years and per 100 persons (%), respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 108,384 patients (adults, 72.1%; pediatric patients, 27.9%) from Optum EHR, 107,682 (adults, 78.5%; pediatric patients, 21.5%) from Optum CDM, and 278,311 (adults, 63.5%; pediatric patients, 36.5%) from MarketScan were identified with CSU diagnosis during the identification period. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rate of diagnosed CSU among adult and pediatric populations in Optum EHR during the identification period (2012-2018) was 0.039 and 0.066 per 100 person-years, respectively, while the prevalence was 0.120% and 0.193%, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rate of diagnosed CSU among adult and pediatric populations in Optum CDM (2012-2018) was 0.094 and 0.109 per 100 person-years, respectively, while the prevalence was 0.277% and 0.304%, respectively. The sex-standardized combined (adult and pediatric) incidence rate and prevalence were 0.096 per 100 person-years and 0.283%, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rate of diagnosed CSU among adult and pediatric populations in MarketScan (2012-2017) was 0.102 and 0.097 per 100 person-years, respectively, while the prevalence was 0.256% and 0.264%, respectively. The sex-standardized combined (adult and pediatric) incidence rate and prevalence were 0.088 per 100 person-years and 0.244%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study highlight a general increasing trend in the incidence and prevalence of diagnosed CSU over time among the US population. Comparatively, the incidence and prevalence were higher among pediatric patients than adults.