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Prevalence and Incidence of Keratoconus in South Korea: A Nationwide Population-based Study
Sungsoon Hwang1, Dong Hui Lim2, Tae-Young Chung1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Purpose:
To determine the prevalence and incidence of keratoconus in South Korea.
Design:
A nationwide, population-based, retrospective study of keratoconus in the entire South Korean population (N = 47 990 761) from 2009 to 2014 was conducted using data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database.
Methods:
We identified patients with ophthalmologist-confirmed keratoconus using the HIRA database, and estimated keratoconus prevalence and incidence rates, both overall and according to age and sex.
Results:
Of 47 990 761 subjects, 17 931 had keratoconus during the 6-year period. The prevalence in the general population was 37.4 cases (95% confidence interval [CI]: 36.8-37.9) per 100 000 people. After exclusion of an initial 1-year washout period, 13 343 cases of incident keratoconus were identified during the final 5-year period (2010-2014). The incidence rate in the general population was 5.56 cases (95% CI: 5.47-5.66) per 100 000 person-years. Incidence peaked among men in their late 20s and among women in their early 20s. The overall male-to-female incidence rate ratio was 1.00, meaning there was no sex predisposition.
Conclusion:
Estimates of the nationwide, population-based prevalence and incidence of keratoconus may help deepen our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease and allow appropriate healthcare system planning.
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