Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb;69(2):166-171.
doi: 10.1002/mus.28006. Epub 2023 Dec 1.

Incidence and prevalence of myasthenia gravis in the United States: A claims-based analysis

Ema Rodrigues  1 , Emeka Umeh  2 , Aishwarya  3 , Nizanth Navaratnarajah  4 , Alexander Cole  1 , Kristin Moy  1
Affiliations

Incidence and prevalence of myasthenia gravis in the United States: A claims-based analysis

Ema Rodrigues et al. Muscle Nerve. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction/aims: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare neuromuscular disorder with geographically variable prevalence and incidence rates. A global trend of increasing prevalence of MG has been observed in the last few decades, and this study aimed to assess the current prevalence and incidence rates of MG in the United States.

Methods: Data were extracted from the Clarivate Real-World Data Repository (2016-2021), a US claims and electronic health records database. The prevalence and incidence of MG were calculated for the year 2021 for males and females who were <2, 2-5, 6-11, 12-17, 18-49, 50-64, and ≥65 years of age, using population estimates from the US Census.

Results: The diagnosed prevalence and incidence of MG in the United States in 2021 were calculated to be 37.0 per 100,000 persons and 3.1 per 100,000 persons, respectively. While the incidence and prevalence of MG increased with age in both men and women, higher prevalence and incidence of MG were observed in younger women (<50 years) compared with men of matching age, and in older men (≥65 years) compared with women of the same age group.

Discussion: The updated prevalence and incidence of MG in the United States in 2021 are higher than previous reports from the 1980s and early 2000s, following a global trend of increased prevalence and incidence for this disorder in the last few decades.

Keywords: United States; epidemiology; incidence; myasthenia gravis; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Dresser L, Wlodarski R, Rezania K, Soliven B. Myasthenia gravis: epidemiology, pathophysiology and clinical manifestations. J Clin Med. 2021;10(11):2235.
    1. Grob D, Brunner N, Namba T, Pagala M. Lifetime course of myasthenia gravis. Muscle Nerve. 2008;37(2):141-149.
    1. Meriggioli MN, Sanders DB. Autoimmune myasthenia gravis: emerging clinical and biological heterogeneity. The Lancet Neurology. 2009;8(5):475-490.
    1. Westerberg E, Punga AR. Epidemiology of myasthenia gravis in Sweden 2006-2016. Brain Behav. 2020;10(11):e01819.
    1. Pedersen EG, Hallas J, Hansen K, Jensen PEH, Gaist D. Late-onset myasthenia not on the increase: a nationwide register study in Denmark, 1996-2009. Eur J Neurol. 2013;20(2):309-314.

Grants and funding