Incidence and Prevalence of Rosacea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background

The exact prevalence and incidence of rosacea remain unknown, although it is a common condition associated with severe non-cutaneous diseases. We performed a systematic review of published literature to examine the global incidence and prevalence of rosacea.

Methods

A systematic review of population-based studies reporting the incidence and/or prevalence of rosacea was performed using three electronic medical databases, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Data were extracted, and a proportion meta-analysis was performed to obtain pooled proportions.

Results

A total of 32 studies were included examining a total of 41 populations with 26,519,836 individuals. 22 populations were from Europe, three from Africa, four from Asia, nine from North America, and three from South America. The pooled proportion of rosacea was 5.46% (95% CI 4.91-6.04) in the general population and 2.39% (95% CI 1.56-3.39) among dermatology outpatients. Self-reported rosacea gave higher prevalence estimates than rosacea diagnosed by clinical examination, suggesting a low specificity of questionnaires based on symptoms. Rosacea affected both women (5.41%, (CI 95% 3.85-7.23)) and men (3.90% (CI 95% 3.04-4.87)), and mostly those aged 45-60 years.

Conclusion

We estimated the global prevalence of rosacea based on published data and found that 5.46% of the adult population is affected. However, the prevalence of rosacea depended on the diagnostic method with higher estimates in questionnaire studies and lower estimates in health registries.

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