The prevalence and incidence of Raynaud's in England, United Kingdom

To estimate the prevalence and incidence in Raynaud's and its association with age, sex, ethnicity and region in England.

The Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum database was used to identify individuals with Raynaud's from 1998 to 2023. The prevalence of Raynaud's in 2023 and incidence rates from 2003 to 2023 was calculated. Logistic regression, Poisson regression and survival-time analyses were used to assess any variation according to age, sex, ethnicity and region.

There were 158 449 Raynaud's cases recorded in 2023, with a prevalence rate of 894.19 (95% CI: 889.81, 898.58) per 100 000 people. Older individuals and females were most likely to develop Raynaud's. Black ethnicity [odds ratio (OR) = 0.54 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.58)] and living in London [OR = 0.50 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.51)] were associated with lower prevalence. There were 136 602 incident cases recorded. The incidence rate was 46.22 (95% CI: 45.98, 46.47) per 100 000 person-years. Older age [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.04 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.06)] and females [IRR = 2.00 (95% CI: 1.98, 2.01)] were associated with higher incidence rates whilst lowest incidence was observed in those of Black ethnicity [IRR = 0.49 (95% CI: 0.46, 0.52)] and in London [IRR = 0.53 (95% CI: 0.52, 0.54)].

Excluding people with Raynaud's secondary to an autoimmune connective tissue disease, this study observed an increasing number of incident cases of GP-recorded Raynaud's diagnoses with age, peaking at 40-69 years.