title: Estimated age- and sex-specific incidence and prevalence of dopamine agonist-treated hyperprolactinemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few data exist on sex- and age-specific incidence and prevalence of idiopathic hyperprolactinemia and prolactinomas.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to assess incidence and prevalence of dopamine agonist-treated hyperprolactinemia by age and sex.
  
  
  METHODS
  From the PHARMO network, we identified an open cohort of patients who were ever dispensed dopamine agonists for hyperprolactinemia. The network includes complete medication histories for more than 2 million community-dwelling residents. Prolonged use of low-dose dopamine agonist is a reliable marker for hyperprolactinemia, provided that use for Parkinson's disease and lactation withdrawal is excluded. Diagnoses were verified by prolactin values in a random subsample using the same network.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 11,314 subjects with at least one dispensing of dopamine agonist in the period 1996-2006, of whom 1607 subjects were considered to have dopamine agonist-treated hyperprolactinemia based on the prescribing pattern. The majority of patients were women (n = 1342, 84%). The diagnosis proved to be incorrect in only 1.5% of a random subsample. The estimated incidence rate of dopamine agonist-treated hyperprolactinemia for women was 8.7/100,000 person-years and for men 1.4/100,000 person-years. The highest incidence rate was found in women 25-34 yr of age: 23.9/100,000 person-years. The mean prevalence of ever treated female patients was almost five times higher (93.9/100,000) compared with male patients (19.6/100,000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence rates and the prevalence of dopamine agonist-treated hyperprolactinemia showed an overall preponderance in women, with a strong peak for women aged 25-34 yr. In men, no peak was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kars
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Souverein
authors.forename: R M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Herings
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Romijn
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vandenbroucke
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Dekkers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006966:Hyperprolactinemia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists