AUTHOR=Anger Jennifer T. , Dallas Kai B. , Bresee Catherine , De Hoedt Amanda M. , Barbour Kamil E. , Hoggatt Katherine J. , Goodman Marc T. , Kim Jayoung , Freedland Stephen J. 

TITLE=National prevalence of IC/BPS in women and men utilizing veterans health administration data

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pain Research

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.925834

DOI=10.3389/fpain.2022.925834

ISSN=2673-561X

ABSTRACT=Importance: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is an immense burden to patients and the American healthcare system. It is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Prevalence estimates vary widely (150-fold range in women, >500-fold range in men).
Objectives: We aimed to create accurate national IC/BPS prevalence estimates by employing novel methodology combining a national population-based dataset with individual chart abstraction.
Study Design: In this epidemiological survey, all living patients with ≥2 clinic visits from 2016-2018 in the Veterans Health Administration with an ICD-9/10 code for IC/BPS (n=9,503) or similar conditions that may represent undiagnosed IC/BPS (n=124,331) were identified (other were controls n=5,069,695). Chart review of random gender-balanced samples confirmed the true presence of IC/PBS which were then age- and gender-matched to the general US population.
Results: Of the 5,203,529 patients identified, IC/BPS was confirmed in 541 of 1,647 sampled charts with an IC/BPS ICD code, 10 of 382 charts with an ICD-like code, and 3 of 916 controls. After matching, this translated to national prevalence estimates of 0.87% (95% CI: 0.32, 1.42), with female and male prevalence of 1.08% (95% CI: 0.03, 2.13) and 0.66% (95% CI: 0.44, 0.87), respectively.
Conclusions: We estimate the prevalence of IC/BPS to be 0.87%, which is lower than prior estimates based on survey data, but higher than prior estimates based on administrative data. These potentially represent the most accurate estimates to date, given the broader and more heterogeneous population studied and our novel methodology of combining in depth chart abstraction with administrative data.