From 1997 to 2018, there was a decrease in the incidence of scleritis in the United Kingdom, according to a study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Investigators estimated trends in scleritis prevalence and incidence in a retrospective cross-sectional and population cohort study from 1997-2018 involving 10.9 million patients (2,946 incident scleritis cases) and from a case-control and cohort study from 1995-2019, which included 3,005 incident scleritis cases and 12,020 control patients. From 1997 to 2018, the incidence rates of scleritis decreased from 4.23 to 2.79 per 100,000 person-years. In 2018, the prevalence was 93.62 per 100,000 people. The risk for incident scleritis was increased in association with female sex (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.54), Black or South Asian race/ethnicity versus White (adjusted incidence rate ratios, 1.52 and 1.50, respectively), and older age (peak adjusted incidence rate ratio, 4.95 for ages 51-60 vs <10). Patients with scleritis had a two-fold increased risk for a prior diagnosis of infectious/immune-mediated inflammatory disease (I-IMID) com-pared with controls, as well as a significantly increased risk for a subsequent diagnosis of 13 I-IMIDs. The most strongly associated I-IMIDs were granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Behçet disease, and Sjögren syndrome. “The interplay between ophthalmologically managed scleritis, and I-IMIDs managed by rheumatology and other specialties, highlights the need for multispecialty care pathways for patients with this potentially blinding disease,” the authors write.
