The global prevalence of spondyloarthritis: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis

C. Stolwijk*, M. van Onna, A. Boonen, A. van Tubergen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

ObjectiveTo summarize the prevalence of spondyloarthritis (SpA) and its subtypes in the general population, and to identify demographic and methodologic characteristics that might explain heterogeneity in prevalence estimates.

MethodsA systematic literature search was performed to identify relevant articles. Risk of bias was assessed and data were extracted. Pooled prevalences were calculated. Potential sources of heterogeneity were explored by subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis.

ResultsThe prevalence of SpA ranged from 0.20% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.00-0.66) in South-East Asia to 1.61% (95% CI 1.27-2.00) in Northern Arctic communities; the prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) from 0.02% (95% CI 0.00-0.21) in Sub-Saharan Africa to 0.35% (95% CI 0.24-0.48) in Northern Arctic communities; and the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) from 0.01% (95% CI 0.00-0.17) in the Middle East to 0.19% (95% CI 0.16-0.32) in Europe. The following characteristics were significantly associated with variation in prevalence of SpA, AS, and/or PsA: proportion of females, mean age of the sample, geographic area and setting (demographic characteristics), year of data collection, case finding, and case ascertainment (methodologic characteristics). For the other SpA subgroups, too few studies were available to conduct a meta-analysis, but prevalence estimates of reactive arthritis (range 0.0-0.2%), SpA related to inflammatory bowel disease (range 0.0-0.1%), and undifferentiated SpA (range 0.0-0.7%) were generally low.

ConclusionSpA is a common disease, but with large variation in reported prevalence estimates, which can partly be explained by differences in demographic and methodologic characteristics. Particularly, geographic area as well as case finding account for a substantial part of the heterogeneity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1320-1331
Number of pages12
JournalArthritis Care and Research
Volume68
Issue number9
Early online date29 Dec 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2016

Keywords

  • SOCIETY CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA
  • ANKYLOSING-SPONDYLITIS
  • AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS
  • RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS
  • POPULATION
  • DISEASES
  • EPIDEMIOLOGY
  • HLA-B27
  • METAANALYSIS
  • DISORDERS

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