Incidence and death rate of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus in Korea: A nationwide, population-based study (2006-2015)

The epidemiology of pemphigus varies among racial populations worldwide. Trends in the incidence of pemphigus have not been investigated based on the Korean National Health Insurance database. This study investigated the incidence and death rate of pemphigus with age using nationwide population data in South Korea. A nationwide population-based cohort study was performed using the Korean National Health Insurance Claims Database from 2006 to 2015. The incidence of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) per 1 000 000 person-years was 2.059 (1.885 for males and 2.234 for females), and for pemphigus foliaceus (PF) 1.138 (1.205 males and 1.07 for females). The incidence of PV and PF increased with age. The incidence was not different between the habitat and household income. These incidence of PV and PF was significantly higher in subjects with comorbid metabolic conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia. The death rate per 1000 person-years in PV and PF patients increased with age after adjustment for the presence of comorbidities compared with standard death rate. This study showed that age is an important factor in PV and PF patients in Korea.