Trends in Hospitalization and Incidence Rate for Syphilitic Uveitis in the United States from 1998-2009

• Published in: American journal of ophthalmology 2017-08, Vol.180, p.133-141
• Main Authors: Albini, Thomas, Callaway, Natalia F, Pershing, Suzann, Wang, Sean K, Moshfeghi, Andrew A, Moshfeghi, Darius M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; AIDS; Antibiotics; Child; Codes; Comorbidity; Disease control; Eye Infections, Bacterial - epidemiology; Eye Infections, Bacterial - microbiology; Female; Health care policy; HIV; Hospitalization - trends; Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Incidence; Infections; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mens health; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Ophthalmology; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution; Sexually transmitted diseases; Statistical analysis; STD; Syphilis; Syphilis - epidemiology; Syphilis - microbiology; Trends; United States - epidemiology; Uveitis - epidemiology; Uveitis - microbiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0002-9394; 1879-1891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2017.05.013

Abstract Purpose This study evaluates the annual incidence of syphilitic uveitis in the US and trends in hospital admissions over time. Design Retrospective, longitudinal incidence rate analysis of the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data from 1998 to 2009. Methods The NIS is a de-identified, random sample dataset of inpatient hospitalizations from 46 states. The number of cases of syphilitic uveitis was defined: 1) ICD-9 code for syphilis and uveitis or 2) ICD-9 code for syphilitic uveitis. Annual case count, incidence rate, and trend over time were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate associated factors for a syphilitic uveitis diagnosis. Results The study included 455,310,286 hospitalizations during a 12-year study period with a mean of 37,942,524 patients annually. Syphilis and uveitis was recorded for 1,861 patients (155 annually) while syphilitic uveitis was diagnosed in 204 subjects (average of 17 cases annually). There was no change in the incidence of syphilitic uveitis, using either definition, over the study period ( P for trend = 0.46). The mean annual incidence of syphilis and uveitis was 0.0004%, or 4 per million. Syphilitic uveitis had an annual incidence of 0.000045% or 5 per 10 million. The odds of syphilitic and uveitis were lower among women ( OR 0.40, CI 0.28-0.57) and increased with comorbid AIDS ( OR 4.52, CI 3.01-6.79). Conclusions We report the first incidence of syphilitic uveitis in the United States. Fortunately, this remains a rare condition. The results demonstrate no change in the number of inpatient admissions for syphilitic uveitis during the study period.