Dataset Information

Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK: a national electronic cohort study and case-control comparison.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To describe the epidemiology of diagnosed hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) using linked electronic medical records. To examine whether these conditions remain rare and primarily affect the musculoskeletal system. DESIGN:Nationwide linked electronic cohort and nested case-control study. SETTING:Routinely collected data from primary care and hospital admissions in Wales, UK. PARTICIPANTS:People within the primary care or hospital data systems with a coded diagnosis of EDS or joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) between 1 July 1990 and 30 June 2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Combined prevalence of JHS and EDS in Wales. Additional diagnosis and prescription data in those diagnosed with EDS or JHS compared with matched controls. RESULTS:We found 6021 individuals (men: 30%, women: 70%) with a diagnostic code of either EDS or JHS. This gives a diagnosed point prevalence of 194.2 per 100?000 in 2016/2017 or roughly 10 cases in a practice of 5000 patients. There was a pronounced gender difference of 8.5 years (95%?CI: 7.70 to 9.22) in the mean age at diagnosis. EDS or JHS was not only associated with high odds for other musculoskeletal diagnoses and drug prescriptions but also with significantly higher odds of a diagnosis in other disease categories (eg, mental health, nervous and digestive systems) and higher odds of a prescription in most disease categories (eg, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular drugs) within the 12 months before and after the first recorded diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS:EDS and JHS (since March 2017 classified as EDS or HSD) have historically been considered rare diseases only affecting the musculoskeletal system and soft tissues. These data demonstrate that both these assertions should be reconsidered.

SUBMITTER: Demmler JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6858200 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK: a national electronic cohort study and case-control comparison.

Demmler Joanne C JC Atkinson Mark D MD Reinhold Emma J EJ Choy Ernest E Lyons Ronan A RA Brophy Sinead T ST

BMJ open 20191104 11

<h4>Objectives</h4>To describe the epidemiology of diagnosed hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) using linked electronic medical records. To examine whether these conditions remain rare and primarily affect the musculoskeletal system.<h4>Design</h4>Nationwide linked electronic cohort and nested case-control study.<h4>Setting</h4>Routinely collected data from primary care and hospital admissions in Wales, UK.<h4>Participants</h4>People within the primary care o ...[more]

PMID: 31685485

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Project description:ObjectiveChronic pain is a common manifestation of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders; thus it is often suggested that patients undergo generic interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation, despite there being little evidence to support this decision. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of standard rehabilitation programmes for chronic pain on patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders, compared with patients with other chronic pain disorders.SubjectsData, collected between 2008 and 2016, were extracted from a Swedish national registry. The patient data comprised of 406 cases with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorders, 784 cases with a whiplash-related diagnosis, 3713 cases with diagnoses relating to spinal pain, and 2880 cases of fibromyalgia.MethodsThe differences between groups on key outcome measures from pre- to 1-year follow-up after interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation were analysed using linear mixed effects models. Sensitivity analysis in the form of pattern-mixture modelling was conducted to discern the impact of missing data.ResultsNo significant differences were found in improvements from pre- to 1-year follow-up for patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder compared with other diagnostic groups regarding measures of health-related quality of life, mental health, or fatigue. At follow-up, differences in pain interference (d = -0.34 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] -0.5 to -0.18)), average pain (d = 0.22 (95% CI 0.11-0.62)) and physical functioning (d = 2.19 (95% CI 1.61-2.77)) were detected for the group with spinal-related diagnoses in relation to those with EDS/HSD, largely due to pre-treatment group differences. Sensitivity analysis found little evidence for missing data influencing the results.ConclusionThis study suggests that patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome/hypermobility spectrum disorders may benefit from inclusion in an interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programme.

Project description:IntroductionEhlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS)/generalised hypermobility spectrum disorders (G-HSD) affect the connective tissue of the body and present with a heterogeneous set of symptoms that pose a challenge for diagnosis. One of the main diagnostic criteria of EDS/G-HSD is generalised joint hypermobility, which is currently assessed by clinicians during a physical exam. However, the practice for measuring joint hypermobility is inconsistent between clinicians, leading to high inter-rater variability. Often patients are misdiagnosed with EDS/G-HSD based on an incorrect hypermobility assessment, leading to increased referral rates and resource utilisation at specialised EDS clinics that results in unnecessary emotional distress for patients. An objective, validated and scalable method for assessing hypermobility might mitigate these issues and result in improved EDS/G-HSD patient care.Methods and analysisThis study will examine the use of videos obtained using a smartphone camera to assess the range of motion (ROM) and hypermobility of the joints assessed in Beighton score and more (spine, shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, thumbs and fifth fingers) in individuals with suspected EDS/G-HSD. Short videos of participants will be captured as they undergo a formal assessment of joint hypermobility at the GoodHope EDS Clinic at Toronto General Hospital. Clinicians will measure the ROM at each joint using a clinical-grade goniometer to establish ground truth measurements. Open-source human pose-estimation libraries will be used to extract the locations of key joints from the videos. Deterministic and machine learning systems will be developed and evaluated for estimating the ROM at each joint. Results will be analysed separately for each joint and human pose-estimation library.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the University Health Network in Toronto on 26 April 2022. Participants will provide written informed consent. Findings from this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences.Trial registration numberNCT05366114.

Dataset Information

Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK: a national electronic cohort study and case-control comparison.

Publications

Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK: a national electronic cohort study and case-control comparison.

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