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Guillain-Barré syndrome incidence in a large United States cohort (2000-2009)
Irene M Shui1, Melisa D Rett, Eric Weintraub
1Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ishui@hsph.harvard.edu
Insights
The incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is approximately 1.72 per 100,000 person-years in the US. GBS rates are higher in males, increase with age, and show seasonal and yearly variations.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder.
- Understanding GBS incidence is crucial for public health preparedness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the incidence of GBS in a large US population.
- To analyze variations in GBS rates by demographic and temporal factors.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study using electronic health records from 2000-2009.
- Identified GBS cases using ICD-9 codes (357.0).
- Calculated age-standardized incidence rates and used Poisson regression for analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified 1,619 GBS visits over 50 million person-years.
- Estimated age-standardized incidence rate of 1.72/100,000 person-years.
- Rates were 40% higher in males, increased with age, and varied by season and year.
Conclusions:
- GBS incidence is higher in males and increases significantly with age.
- Seasonal and temporal trends in GBS require further investigation.
- Findings provide valuable epidemiological data for GBS surveillance.
Background/Aim:
We describe the incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in a large United States cohort.
Methods:
Between 2000 and 2009, we identified visits with an ICD-9 code for GBS (357.0) from all persons with continuous enrollment for at least 1 year. The primary case definition was restricted to emergency department and inpatient visits. We calculated age-standardized rates and used multivariate Poisson regression to assess variation in rates by sex, age, season and year of diagnosis. We tabulated descriptive characteristics and the positive predictive value (PPV) for a subset of the visits with available medical record review.
Results:
1,619 visits with the GBS ICD-9 code were identified from 50,290,898 person-years of observation. After considering the PPV (55%) for record-reviewed visits, the age-standardized incidence rate was approximately 1.72/100,000 person-years. The rate was 40% higher for males and increased by 50% for every 10-year increase in age. The rate was 15% higher in winter and spring compared with summer. Rates were higher in more recent years.
Conclusions:
GBS rates are higher in males and increase considerably with age. The potential reasons for differences in rates by season and the increased rates in more recent years should be further investigated.
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