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Prevalence of polymyalgia rheumatica in Colombia: data from the national health registry 2012–2016

  • Epidemiology of RMD
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Abstract

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) affects elderly patients and is characterized by pain and stiffness of the shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle and cervical region, which can be associated with the presence of giant cell arteritis. Data on the epidemiology of this disease in Latin America are scarce. In Colombia, the Ministry of Health introduced SISPRO, a tool to collect nation-wide information from the health system. The information collected from SISPRO is available for scientific analysis. Using SISPRO data for the years 2012–2016, an analysis was made on the prevalence and characteristics of patients diagnosed with PMR. This is a descriptive epidemiological study using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems as search terms related to PMR, based on SISPRO data. Criteria for diagnosis are not explicitly addressed in each individual case. National records report 19,901 individuals diagnosed with PMR and estimated prevalence of 2 cases per 1000 inhabitants over 50 years old (based on a total population of 47,663,162), being more frequent in women (86% of cases), with a female/male ratio of 6.2:1. This is the first study that describes the demographic characteristics of PMR in Colombia. Our results are consistent with the age-related increase in prevalence and gender ratio. Likewise, there are differences between regions, which may be related to ancestry and environmental factors, which require further studies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank their colleagues at the Department of Internal Medicine at Hospital Universitario San Ignacio as well as School Medicine at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana for their fruitful discussions and contributions to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Kra 7 No. 40-62, Bogotá, Colombia

    Daniel G. Fernández-Ávila, Santiago Bernal-Macías & Juan M. Gutiérrez

  2. Medicinal School, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

    Santiago Bernal-Macías & Juan M. Gutiérrez

  3. Rheumatology Service, Hospital Militar Central-Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogotá, Colombia

    Diana N. Rincón-Riaño

  4. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Medical School, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

    Daniel G. Fernández-Ávila & Diego Rosselli

Authors
  1. Daniel G. Fernández-Ávila
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  2. Santiago Bernal-Macías
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  3. Diana N. Rincón-Riaño
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  4. Juan M. Gutiérrez
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  5. Diego Rosselli
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Daniel Fernández-Ávila, Santiago Bernal-Macías, Diana Rincón-Riaño, Juan M Gutierrez and Diego Rosselli. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Santiago Bernal-Macías and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel G. Fernández-Ávila.

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Conflict of interest

Daniel Fernández-Ávila, Santiago Bernal-Macías, Diana Rincón-Riaño, Juan M Gutierrez and Diego Rosselli declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethical committee of Medicine Faculty of Pontificia Universidad Javerina 2018/20 and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Fernández-Ávila, D.G., Bernal-Macías, S., Rincón-Riaño, D.N. et al. Prevalence of polymyalgia rheumatica in Colombia: data from the national health registry 2012–2016. Rheumatol Int 39, 1631–1635 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-019-04387-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-019-04387-5

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