epidemiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
- predominantly occurs in patients over 50 years old with a peak incidence in the UK of 22.9 per 10 000 patient-years in the age range of 70–79 years (1)
- incidence of PMR
- varies, from a low of 12.7/100 000 in northern Spain, to a high of 112/100 000 in Norway (1)
- in the UK, it has been shown to be 8.42 per 10 000 person years (2)
- lifetime risk has been estimated at 2.4% for women and 1.7% for men (1)
- in UK, a full-time GP working in a practice with a list size of 10 000 patients can expect five cases of PMR per year (1)
- more common in Caucasians, especially those of Scandinavian extraction
- association with HLA-DR4
- association between malignancy and PMR has been recognized (3)
Reference:
- (1) Helliwell T, Hider SL, Mallen CD. Polymyalgia rheumatica: diagnosis, prescribing, and monitoring in general practice. Br J Gen Pract. 2013;63(610):e361-6
- (2) Helliwell T et al.Diagnosis and management of polymyalgia rheumatica. Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(598):275-6
- (3) Kuttikat A, et al. A case of polymyalgia rheumatica, microscopic polyangiitis, and B-cell lymphoma. Nat Clin Pract Rheumatol. 2006 Dec;2(12):686-90