Autoimmune Disease prevalence affects 15 million Americans, with women facing nearly twice the risk, according to a landmark Mayo Clinic study spanning six major medical centres.
Autoimmune Disease prevalence across the United States has been comprehensively assessed for the first time in a landmark clinical epidemiology study conducted by Mayo Clinic scientists and their research partners. Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, this cross-sectional study indicates that approximately 15 million Americans are affected by at least one of 105 identified autoimmune conditions. The investigation also highlighted significant gender disparities in disease occurrence and mapped out the top autoimmune diseases by prevalence, gender, and age groups.
Understanding Autoimmune Disease Prevalence
“Understanding the precise number of individuals affected by autoimmune diseases in the United States is vital for monitoring disease trends and treatment effectiveness over time,” explains the study’s lead correspondent, DeLisa Fairweather, Ph.D., who serves as vice-chair of translational research in Mayo Clinic Florida’s Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. “This data is essential for securing research funding, raising public awareness about both collective and specific autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or multiple sclerosis. Understanding gender and age-related patterns is crucial for comprehending disease development and its impact on healthcare delivery.” Dr. Fairweather also heads the Translational Cardiovascular Disease Research Laboratory.
Research Methodology
The research team, led by Dr. Fairweather and co-senior author Aaron Abend from the Autoimmune Registry, conducted a population-based study analyzing electronic health records from more than 10 million patients across six major medical centers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri. These patients had been diagnosed with at least one of the 105 autoimmune conditions under study. The findings were then projected onto the U.S. population of 333.3 million.
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Innovative Approach to Data Analysis
The team developed a specialized algorithmic program to generate the first nationwide prevalence estimates for autoimmune diseases as a category. Dr. Fairweather notes that previous U.S. estimates relied on meta-analyses and projections for individual conditions, potentially leading to inaccurate prevalence calculations. She also points out that obtaining precise prevalence data has been historically challenging due to the lack of a global consensus on the definition of autoimmune disease.
Key Findings
The research revealed that roughly 15 million people, representing 4.6% of the U.S. population, received an autoimmune disease diagnosis between January 2011 and January 2022. Notably, 34% of these individuals were diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases.
Prevalence and Distribution
Key findings included:
- Women (63% of cases) were nearly twice as likely as men (37%) to receive an autoimmune disease diagnosis.
- 65% of patients were diagnosed with a single autoimmune condition.
- 24% of patients had two autoimmune diseases.
- 8% of patients were diagnosed with three autoimmune conditions.
2% of patients had four or more autoimmune diseases.
Top Autoimmune Diseases
The five top autoimmune diseases identified were:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Psoriasis
- Type I diabetes
- Graves’ disease
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
Other notable conditions included in the study were systemic lupus erythematosus and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Gender Disparities in Autoimmune Diseases
“A striking observation from this research is the significant gender disparity in autoimmune disease prevalence, with women being predominantly affected, while the few conditions that affect men more frequently are relatively uncommon,” notes Dr. Fairweather. “This pattern raises critical questions for future investigation, including whether these differences stem from diagnostic biases or represent fundamental biological variations between sexes.”
Impact on National Health Initiatives
Dr. Fairweather’s expertise led to her appointment on a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committee focused on autoimmune diseases. Her subsequent Congressional testimony in May 2022 contributed to establishing the new National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Autoimmune Disease Research within the Office of Research on Women’s Health.
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NIH Strategic Plan for Autoimmune Disease Research
In a significant development, December 2023 saw the NIH actively seeking input from diverse stakeholders – including scientific experts, federal partners, academic institutions, private sector representatives, healthcare professionals, advocacy organizations, patient communities, and other interested parties – to develop a comprehensive NIH-wide strategic plan for advancing autoimmune disease research.
Open Access to Research Tools
Dr. Fairweather emphasizes that her team has made their program algorithm freely accessible to the research community. This open-access approach enables other researchers to replicate the study using virtually any healthcare database. Furthermore, the tool’s versatility allows researchers to monitor changes in autoimmune disease prevalence over time, providing valuable data for ongoing research initiatives and improving prevalence estimates for multiple autoimmune diseases.
Funding and Disclosures
This research received partial funding through a National Institutes of Health grant under award R01 HL164520. For complete author information, disclosures, and funding details, please refer to the published paper.
Source:
Lynda De Widt (January 6, 2025). New study calculates autoimmune disease prevalence in U.S. Mayo Clinic. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/new-study-calculates-autoimmune-disease-prevalence-in-u-s/
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