Herpes zoster incidence in Germany - an indirect validation study for self-reported disease data from pretest studies of the population-based German National Cohort

Abstract

BackgroundUntil now, herpes zoster (HZ)-related disease burden in Germany has been estimated based on health insurance data and clinical findings. However, the validity of self-reported HZ is unclear. This study investigated the validity of self-reported herpes zoster (HZ) and its complication postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) using data from the pretest studies of the German National Cohort (GNC) in comparison with estimates based on health insurance data.MethodsData of 4751 participants aged between 20 and 69 years from two pretest studies of the GNC carried out in 2011 and 2012 were used. Based on self-reports of physician-diagnosed HZ and PHN, age- and sex-specific HZ incidence rates and PHN proportions were estimated. For comparison, estimates based on statutory health insurance data from the German population were considered.ResultsEleven percent (95%-CI, 10.4 to 12.3, n = 539) of the participants reported at least one HZ episode in their lifetime. Our estimated age-specific HZ incidence rates were lower than previous estimates based on statutory health insurance data. The PHN proportion in participants older than 50 years was 5.9% (1.9 to 13.9%), which was in line with estimates based on health insurance data.ConclusionAs age- and sex-specific patterns were comparable with that in health insurance data, self-reported diagnosis of HZ seems to be a valid instrument for overall disease trends. Possible reasons for observed differences in incidence rates are recall bias in self-reported data or overestimation in health insurance data.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-019-3691-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Burden of Herpes Zoster in Adult Patients with Underlying Conditions: Analysis of German Claims Data, 2007–2018

“…Increasing incidence rates have been observed in persons aged 50 years and over, with 6.6 cases per 1000 being noted for persons aged 50–59 years and 12.8 cases per 1000 for those aged 80 years [ 9 ]. This age-related increase of HZ incidence has recently been supported by self-reported pre-test data from the German National Cohort [ 11 ]. About 400,000 cases of HZ occur annually in the German population covered by statutory health insurance (SHI) [ 9 , 12 ].…”

Gender-specific hearing loss in German adults aged 18 to 84 years compared to US-American and current European studies

“…All the more since in this part of the world the abundance of surveys and data collections meanwhile arouses more suspicion than enthusiastic participation. Against this background, similar low and even lower response rates were reached in the pretest studies for the German National Cohort, a large-scale health study, despite monetary incentives and additional recruitment approaches [54,55]. Low response rates need to be discussed critically, but without overvaluing this single indicator regards to potential biases in the studies' results.…”

Impfungen gegen Infektionskrankheiten bei Multipler Sklerose

“…In den letzten Monaten haben sich für unsere neurologischen Patienten 2 Neuerungen im Impfprocedere ergeben, einerseits die zwingende Indikation zur Meningokokken-Impfung im Rahmen einer Eculizumab-Therapie und andererseits das im klinischen [33,34]. Wichtig für die tägliche Praxis aus impfmedizinischer Sicht sind die nachfolgenden Aspekte: VZV: Liegt keine Anamnese für Windpocken vor bzw.…”