British Journal of Rheumatology 1990;29:131-132
BRIEF REPORT
THE PREVALENCE OF DIFFUSE IDIOPATHIC SKELETAL HYPEROSTOSIS IN AFRICAN BLACKS BY B. CASSIM, G. M. MODY AND D. L. RUBIN* Departments of Medicine and * Radiology, King Edward VIII Hospital and University of Natal, Durban, South Africa
KEY WORDS:
Spine, Ageing, Race, Diabetes, Prevalence.
of the spine has been recognized since the nineteenth century but was first studied systematically by Forestier and Rotes-Querol [1] and was called senile ankylosing hyperostosis or Forestier's disease. Involvement of the appendicular skeleton was recognized by Resnick et al. [2] and the name diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) proposed. The prevalence of DISH has been studied in European, American and Middle Eastern populations [3-6]. Utsinger [6] noted that DISH is less common in American Blacks when compared to Caucasians. However, the prevalence of DISH in Blacks in Africa is unknown.
the criteria proposed by the National Diabetes Data Group and the World Health Organization [8]. Comparisons were made by Yates' corrected chisquared test. The frequency of diabetes in DISH was determined by using the Fisher's exact test because of the small sample sizes.
HYPEROSTOSIS
RESULTS The age and sex characteristics of the patients in the prospective, retrospective and combined groups are shown in Table I. The overall prevalence of DISH was 3.9% (males 3.8% and females 4.2%). There was no significant difference (P = 0.8144) in the prevalence of DISH in the prospective (4.2%) and retrospective groups (3.8%). An increase in prevalence of DISH was shown with age: 1% in the 40-49 group, 2.6% in the 50-59 group, 5.1% in the 60-69 group and 13.6% in patients over 70 years. The female to male ratio for the patients with DISH was 1.05:1 in the retrospective study, 1.1:1 in the prospective study and 1.08:1 in the total group. These differences were not statistically significant (P = 1.0000; P = 0.9877; P = 0.8927). In the prospective study a history of diabetes was obtained in seven (33.3%) of the 21 patients with DISH compared to 37 (7.7%) of the 479 patients without DISH (P =
BRIEF REPORT
THE PREVALENCE OF DIFFUSE IDIOPATHIC SKELETAL HYPEROSTOSIS IN AFRICAN BLACKS BY B. CASSIM, G. M. MODY AND D. L. RUBIN* Departments of Medicine and * Radiology, King Edward VIII Hospital and University of Natal, Durban, South Africa
KEY WORDS:
Spine, Ageing, Race, Diabetes, Prevalence.
of the spine has been recognized since the nineteenth century but was first studied systematically by Forestier and Rotes-Querol [1] and was called senile ankylosing hyperostosis or Forestier's disease. Involvement of the appendicular skeleton was recognized by Resnick et al. [2] and the name diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) proposed. The prevalence of DISH has been studied in European, American and Middle Eastern populations [3-6]. Utsinger [6] noted that DISH is less common in American Blacks when compared to Caucasians. However, the prevalence of DISH in Blacks in Africa is unknown.
the criteria proposed by the National Diabetes Data Group and the World Health Organization [8]. Comparisons were made by Yates' corrected chisquared test. The frequency of diabetes in DISH was determined by using the Fisher's exact test because of the small sample sizes.
HYPEROSTOSIS
RESULTS The age and sex characteristics of the patients in the prospective, retrospective and combined groups are shown in Table I. The overall prevalence of DISH was 3.9% (males 3.8% and females 4.2%). There was no significant difference (P = 0.8144) in the prevalence of DISH in the prospective (4.2%) and retrospective groups (3.8%). An increase in prevalence of DISH was shown with age: 1% in the 40-49 group, 2.6% in the 50-59 group, 5.1% in the 60-69 group and 13.6% in patients over 70 years. The female to male ratio for the patients with DISH was 1.05:1 in the retrospective study, 1.1:1 in the prospective study and 1.08:1 in the total group. These differences were not statistically significant (P = 1.0000; P = 0.9877; P = 0.8927). In the prospective study a history of diabetes was obtained in seven (33.3%) of the 21 patients with DISH compared to 37 (7.7%) of the 479 patients without DISH (P =
