South Korea Reports Unprecedented Decline in Behçet Disease in Recent Years

Between 2004 and 2017, the incidence of Behçet disease decreased 81.5% in South Korea, according to a study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

“The unprecedented decline in the incidence of Behçet’s disease in the Republic of Korea without major changes in genetic background suggests that environmental factors are very important to the development of Behçet’s disease,” wrote a research team from Seoul.

Researchers investigated reports of a possible decline using data from a registry of rare intractable diseases and a claims database. The investigation focused on patients with Behçet disease over 3 time periods: 2004-2006, 2007-2010, and 2011-2017.

According to the study, Behçet disease incidence decreased from 8.15 per 100,000 in 2004 to 1.51 per 100,000 in 2017, representing a drop of 81.5%. Decreases in incidence were greater for women and middle-aged people in particular.

“This decline in incidence might be attributable to changes in environmental factors,” researchers wrote, “including a reduction in the burden of infectious diseases in the past decades and improvement in oral health during childhood.”

However, study findings were not all positive. During the 2011-2017 period, 3-year survival rates with Behçet’s disease were lower, although not statistically so, compared with the periods 2004-2006 and 2007-2010, the study found. Meanwhile, standardized mortality rates increased significantly in the 2011-2017 period compared with the earlier periods.

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference:
Jun JB, Kim HJ, Kazmi SZ, et al. Significant decline in the incidence of Behçet’s disease in South Korea: a nationwide population-based study (2004-2017). Ann Rheum Dis. 2021;73(11):1689-1696.