Epidemiology

Two terms, incidence and prevalence, need to be defined in order to understand some epidemiology.

Incidence: The number of new cases that occur during a given period of time, e.g. 100 cases/100,000 population /per year.This is the rate of occurrence of the disease.

Prevalence: The number of cases that exist at a given point in time, e.g. 100 cases/100,000 population in 2007. This is the proportion of the population that has the disease.

Sarcoidosis occurs worldwide, however, the incidence and prevalence rates vary widely among various locations and among certain subgroups even within locations.

Table of Incidence of Sarcoidosis in Various Places Around the World

Location Total Incidence Male Incidence Female Incidence Peak Age Male Peak Age Female
/100,000 /100,000 /100,000
Denmark 5.3-13.8 ---- ---- 20's 20's > 50's*
Sweden 7.2-11.5 9-16.5 13.8-21.7 20's > 50's to 30's - 40's 20's = 60's
Norway 14.4 13.1 15.6 30's, 50's ----
UK 8.2 3.9 12.8 25 - 34 25 - 34 or 55 - 64
E. Germany ---- 8.1 10.2 ----- -----
Spain 1.36 ----- ----- 30's 20's
Moravia 3.7 ----- ----- 20's 50's
Italy 1.2 - 8.8 ----- ----- 20's 50's
US African American 16 - 81.8 29.8 39.1 30's 30's
US Caucasian 0.9 - 10.9 6.1 - 9.6 6.3 - 12.1 30's or 40's 40's > 70's
Japan 0.6 - 5.3, 1.2 ave. 1.6 (17.9 workers) 2.0 20's or 50's 40's

* Frequently there is a second peak occurrence later in life.

Table of Prevalence of Sarcoidosis in Various Places Around the World

Location No. Cases Examined No. Sarcoidosis Cases No. Sarcoidosis Cases No. Sarcoidosis Cases Prevalence
In Thousands Total Male Female /100,000
Finland 1430 111 ---- ---- 5.1-8.1
Norway 1448 387 181 206 26.7
Sweden 1351 - 1873 867 - 1023 396 - 453 57 - 471 55 - 64
London 868 160 87 73 19
Scotland 1709 141 59 82 6.5 - 18
N. Ireland 1448 149 60 89 10.3
Eire 383 ----- ----- ----- 33.3
Czechoslovakia 3436 118 53 65 3.4
France 207 20 ----- ----- c. 10
W. Berlin 2200 319 114 205 14.5
Leipzig 3017 134 48 86 13.3
Hungary c. 91 5 ----- ----- 5
Italy 17 2 ----- ----- 11.6
Netherlands 4591 994 370 624 21.6
Poland 93 10 ----- ----- 10.7
Portugal c. 3500 6 ----- ----- 0.2
Switzerland 3161 515 ----- ----- 16.3
Yugoslavia 277 33 6 27 11.9
Canada c. 77 >= 8 ----- ----- >= 10.5
Argentina 340 - 695 7 - 17 ----- ----- 1 - 5
Brazil 1810 8 ----- ----- 0.4
Uruguay 1839 8 ----- ----- 0.4
Israel 422 7 6 1 1.6
Japan 193 11 ----- ----- 5.6
Australia 1571 145 66 79 9.2
New Zealand 1081 171 88 83 16 (6.1-24.3)

Incidence and Prevalence tables are from Hosoda Y, Sasagawa S, Yasuda N, Yamaguchi T "Epidemiology of Sarcoidosis:General Approach. Half-a-Century of Studies. In:Baughman RP. Sarcoidosis. Lung Biology in Health and Disease. Volume 210, pp.13-46, Taylor & Francis, New York, 2006.

Reports are subject to much error because surveillance and criteria for diagnosis vary from country to country. In most countries there is a slight female predominance. In the U.S. the prevalence among blacks is greater that of whites There may be a genetic predisposition but its contribution is unclear at this time.

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Last updated 11/20/06