title: Prevalence of hospitalized patients with sarcoidosis in Croatia.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hospitalized patients of sarcoidosis in the Republic of Croatia, its distribution in relation to sex and age as well as its geographical distribution. The data on sarcoidosis patients hospitalized in Croatia in the last six years, from 1997 to 2002, were analyzed retrospectively. The prevalence of sarcoidosis patients hospitalised in the Republic of Croatia is 4.1/100,000. The prevalence among women is 4.7 and among men 3.5 per 100,000 persons, with a ratio of 1.4:1. The disease more frequently occurs in the regions with a continental climate than in the Mediterranean zone. The ratio of sarcoidosis patients in the continental zone to the Mediterranean zone is 1.5:1. It occurs predominantly among the adults. Over the investigated period, in our country we have not registered any case of sarcoidosis among children. It occurs more frequently at a younger age and therefore 44.5% of the patients with sarcoidosis were between 20 and 39 years of age, 40.1% were between 40 and 59 years of age and 15.3% were more than 60 years old.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital for Lung Diseases Jordanovac, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alilović
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peros-Golubicić
authors.forename: Jasna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tekavec-Trkanjec
authors.forename: Antonija
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ivicević
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017678:Sex Distribution