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A Study on the Epidemiology of Rosacea in the UK.

Br J Dermatol. 2012 May 5;

Authors: Spoendlin J, Voegel JJ, Jick SS, Meier CR

Abstract
Background:  Rosacea is a chronic facial skin disease of unclear origin. Epidemiological data are scarce and controversial with reported prevalences ranging from 0.09% to 22%. To our knowledge, incidence rates have not been quantified before. Objectives:  In this observational study we quantified incidence rates of diagnosed rosacea in the UK and described demographic characteristics and the prevalence of ocular symptoms in rosacea patients. We compared life-style factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption between rosacea patients and controls. Methods:  Using the UK-based General Practice Research Database, we identified patients with an incident diagnosis of rosacea between 1995 and 2009 and matched them (1:1) to rosacea-free control patients. We assessed person-time of all patients at risk and assessed incidence rates of rosacea, stratified by age, sex, year of the diagnosis, and region. Results:  We identified 60,042 rosacea cases and 60,042 controls (61.5% women). The overall incidence rate for diagnosed rosacea in the UK was 1.65 / 1,000 person-years. Rosacea was diagnosed in some 80% of cases after the age of 30 years. Ocular symptoms were recorded in 20.8% of cases at the index date. We observed a significantly reduced relative risk of developing rosacea among current smokers (odds ratio 0.64, 95% CI 0.62-0.67). Alcohol consumption was associated with a marginal risk increase. Conclusions:  We quantified incidence rates and characteristics of rosacea patients diagnosed in clinical practice in a large epidemiological study using primary care data from the UK. Smoking was associated with a substantially reduced risk of developing rosacea.

PMID: 22564022 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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