The prevalence of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases in Canadian pediatric populations: administrative database estimates

To estimate systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD) prevalence using administrative data for pediatric populations in four Canadian provinces. Physician billing claims and inpatient hospitalizations from Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and Saskatchewan were used to define cases aged ≤18 years with a SARD diagnosis code in: one or more hospitalization, two or more physician visits within 2 years and at least 2 months apart, or one or more physician visit to a rheumatologist. Estimates ranged from 15.9/100,000 in Quebec [95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) 14.1, 18.0] to 23.0/100,000 in Manitoba (95 % CI 17.9, 29.2). SARDs were more common in females than in males across all provinces. There was a slightly higher prevalence among those living in urban compared to rural areas of Alberta (rate difference 14.4, 95 % CI 8.6, 20.1) and Saskatchewan (rate difference 13.8, 95 % CI 1.0, 26.6). Our results provide population-based prevalence estimates of pediatric SARDs in four Canadian provinces.