title: Age-specific and sex-specific incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus: an estimate from cross-sectional claims data of 2.3 million people in the German statutory health insurance 2002.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide an estimate of age-specific incidence rate of physician-diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for German men and women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The age-specific and sex-specific prevalence of diagnosed SLE in claims data is used to estimate the incidence in the German male and female population. The claims data set stems from a representative sample of the statutory health insurance in 2002 and comprises 2.3 million people. The statutory health insurance covers >85% of the German population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The estimated incidence rates are 0.9 (95% CI 0.7 to 1.1) per 100 000 person-years for men and 1.9 (95% CI 1.7 to 2.2) per 100 000 person-years for women. The age-specific incidence rate of SLE in the male population has a maximum of 2.2 (95% CI 1.0 to 3.4) per 100 000 person-years at the age of 65-70 years. In women, the incidence is peaking at the rate of 3.6 (95% CI 2.9 to 4.3) cases per 100 000 person-years at the age of 20-25 years, but has a second local maximum (2.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 3.8) at menopausal age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the first time, representative data on the incidence of SLE in Germany are provided. The estimated incidence rates of SLE for men and women in Germany are at the lower end of other estimates from comparable European countries.
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; German Diabetes Center, Institute for Biometry and Epidemiology, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brinks
authors.affiliation: German Diabetes Center, Institute for Biometry and Epidemiology , Duesseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoyer
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology , University Hospital Duesseldorf , Duesseldorf , Germany.
authors.forename: Sergej
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; Policlinics for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer-Betz
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; Policlinics for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; Policlinics for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Jutta G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; Policlinics for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Gamal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chehab
authors.affiliation: Hiller Research Unit for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany; Policlinics for Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
keywords: Germany; Incidence; claims data; statutory health insurance