title: Population-based study of the epidemiology of herpes zoster in Korea.
abstract: General epidemiological data regarding herpes zoster (HZ) are necessary for treatment and prevention of this disease. In addition, epidemiological data can play an important role in evaluating the efficacy and impact of vaccination. Though several epidemiological studies of HZ in Korea have been conducted, they usually depend on hospital-based data and may not be representative of HZ characteristics all over Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and other epidemiological features of HZ in the general Korean population. We used population-based medical records from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, which includes 50,908,646 medical insurance subscribers, to calculate the incidence of HZ. Also, we analyzed an age-stratified random sample of 1,375,842 individuals to study descriptive epidemiologic characteristics of HZ in Korea in 2011. We observed that the incidence of HZ was 10.4 per 1,000 person-years and was strongly correlated with age. Sex had a major influence on HZ incidence; overall, there were 12.6 cases per 1,000 person years in women and 8.3 cases per 1,000 person years in men. There was no difference in incidence according to the locality and season.
authors.affiliation: SaeHaYan Dermatology Clinic, Gwangmyeong, Korea.
authors.forename: You Jeong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2314-829X
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: SaeHaYan Dermatology Clinic, Gwangmyeong, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Nam
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5590-3440
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: DM/STATISTICS Institute, School of Medicine, Dongguk University, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Chi-Yeon
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0178-6976
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Seok
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7579-4771
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3631-0807
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Epidemiology; Herpes zoster; Korea; Population-Based Study