title: Nationwide incidence of clinically diagnosed central retinal artery occlusion in Korea, 2008 to 2011.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To define the incidence and demographics of clinically diagnosed central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationwide population-based retrospective study using data entered into the Korean national health claims database from 2007 to 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of the entire Korean population (N = 47,990,761, based on the 2010 census) were analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the national health claims database to identify patients diagnosed with CRAO. Incident cases were those with no claims related to CRAO in 2007 and were included once on the earliest claims related to CRAO in the years 2008 to 2011. Incident cases had a disease-free period before diagnosis of at least 1 to 4 years. The average incidence rate of CRAO was estimated according to the entire Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The person-time incidence rates of clinically diagnosed CRAO in Korea, including the age- and sex-specific incidence rates, were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3464 CRAO cases (59.1% men) were identified. The incidence rate of clinically diagnosed CRAO during the study period was 1.80 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.74-1.86). The incidence rate among men and women was 2.15 (95% CI, 2.05-2.24) and 1.47 (95% CI, 1.39-1.54) per 100,000 person-years (male-to-female ratio, 1.47), respectively. The age-specific male-to-female ratios were constant between the ages of 30 and 89 years (range, 1.51-2.10 years). The highest incidence of 10.08 (95% CI, 8.80-11.35) per 100,000 person-years was observed in those aged 80 to 84 years (14.65 [95% CI, 11.90-17.40] and 8.00 [95% CI, 6.63-9.37] per 100,000 person-years for men and women aged 80-84 years, respectively). The incidence rate of CRAO increased exponentially with age until the 9th decade of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first nationwide epidemiologic study of CRAO in individuals of all ages. The incidence rate of CRAO in Korea increased exponentially with increasing age and was highest among those aged 80 to 84 years. Moreover, the incidence rate in men was 1.47 times higher than that in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nam-Kyong
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Ha
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu Hyung
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: sejoon1@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Se Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Woo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D015356:Retinal Artery Occlusion / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution