Epidemiology of systemic sclerosis in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The epidemiological profile of systemic sclerosis (SSc) in the population in Asia-Pacific countries might help in planning for improved future care and research direction.

We aimed to estimate the pooled incidence and pooled prevalence of systemic sclerosis (SSc) in Asia-Pacific countries.

We conducted and reported the systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement of 2020. Databases searched include PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and ProQuest, and hand searching, with a focus on publications from 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2023.

A total of 456 records were identified from the searches, 10 articles were included for review: six reported the incidence of SSc; nine reported the prevalence of SSc. We noted considerable heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses categorized by the period of study before and after the launch of the 2013 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for SSc demonstrated that both incidence and prevalence of SSc were significantly different between subgroups. The incidence of SSc before and after the launch was 1.85 per 100,000 (4 studies, I² = 100%, 95%CI 0.53-6.40) and 9.61 per 100,000 (2 studies, I² = 100%, 95%CI 4.90-18.85), respectively. The prevalence of SSc before and after the launch was 6.47 per 100,000 (6 studies, I² = 97%, 95%CI 5.09-8.21) and 18.48 per 100,000 (3 studies, I² = 100%, 95%CI 7.19-47.50), respectively.

The epidemiology of SSc varied widely across the Asia-Pacific region depending on the study methodology and study period. The incidence of SSc in the Asia-Pacific region was estimated to be higher after the launch of the new classification criteria.