title: Incidence and prevalence of adult systemic lupus erythematosus in a large US managed-care population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this paper is to determine the incidence and prevalence of adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a large US managed-care population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subject inclusion in the incidence cohort required a medical claim with an SLE diagnosis and a service date from 2003 to 2008 that satisfied the following criteria: 1) ≥18 years on service date; 2) continuously enrolled for 24 months before and 12 months after service date; 3) in the 12 months after service date, ≥ one inpatient claim or ≥ two office or ER visits with an SLE diagnosis; 4) no SLE diagnosis 24 months prior to service date; and 5) no SLE medications 12 months prior to service date. Prevalence cohort subjects were identified using a similar algorithm and were not required to satisfy criteria 4) and 5).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,557 subjects were included in the incidence cohort, and 15,396 were included in the prevalence cohort. The overall age- and gender-adjusted SLE incidence rate (2003-2008) was 7.22 cases per 100,000 person-years. The annual prevalence of SLE (per 100,000 individuals) varied from 81.07 in 2003 to 102.94 in 2008.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SLE incidence in this large managed-care plan with geographic diversity was slightly higher than previous estimates, and the prevalence was within the range of previous estimates.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Furst
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bancroft
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Greth
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Iorga
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D016014:Linear Models; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult