Five Year Nationwide Incidence of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Requiring Surgery in Korea

PURPOSE To define the incidence and demographic characteristics of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) requiring surgery in Korea. DESIGN Nationwide population-based retrospective study. METHODS Patients who underwent surgery for RRD from 2007 to 2011 were retrospectively identified using the diagnostic code for RRD and the surgical codes for retinal detachment surgeries in the national claim database. The average incidence rate of RRD during the 5-year period was estimated using the population data of the 2010 Census in Korea. RESULTS A total of 24,928 surgically treated RRD cases were identified. The average incidence of surgery requiring RRD was 10.39 cases per 100,000 person-years [95% confidence interval (CI), 10.26-10.52). The incidence in men (11.32 cases per 100,000 person-years; 95% CI: 11.13-11.51) was significantly higher than that in women (9.47 cases per 100,000 person-years; 95% CI: 9.29-9.64) (p<0.001). The incidence of surgery requiring RRD showed a bimodal distribution across age groups, with one peak (28.55 cases per 100,000 person-years; 95% CI: 27.46-29.67) representing patients between 65 and 69 years of age and the second peak (approximately 8.5 per 100,000 person-years) representing patients between 20 and 29 years of age. The male-to-female ratio was approximately 1.0 for the peak-incidence age groups, whereas the ratio was higher for the other age groups. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of RRD in the Korean population was similar to that reported previously, with the peak incidence being lower than that in the Caucasian population. The age-specific RRD incidence pattern in Korea followed a bimodal distribution.