Increasing trend in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in Korea from 2004 to 2015

BACKGROUND: To determine the 12-year incidence of and trends in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) requiring surgery in Korea. METHODS: This was a nationwide, population-based, retrospective study. We identified 53,179 patients with incident RRD requiring surgery using the Korean National Health Claims Database from 2004 to 2015. We estimated the crude incidence rates and age- and sex-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 person-years in each year during the study period. A joinpoint regression analysis was performed to determine the trend. RESULTS: The average annual incidence rate was 9.78 (95% CI: 9.70–9.86). Male patients showed an incidence rate (10.68 [95% CI: 10.57–10.80]) 1.20 times that of female patients (8.87 [95% CI: 8.76–8.98]). The incidence showed a bimodal distribution; the highest peak was in the 60–64 year age group (23.77 [95% CI: 23.18–24.35]) and the second peak was in the 20–24 year age group (7.68 [95% CI: 7.41–7.95]). An increasing trend of RRD incidence was observed in the total population throughout the study period using joinpoint analysis (annual percentage change [APC], 2.05; 95% CI: 0.7–3.4). The increasing trend was more prominent among individuals aged under 50 years (APC, 3.44; 95% CI: 2.3–4.6), while among those aged 50 years or above, the increasing incidence was observed only in male patients. CONCLUSIONS: In Korea, the incidence of RRD has increased recently. People in the < 50 year age group accounted for the major part of this significant increase, which is related to the increasing incidence of myopia in the young generation in Asia. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-021-02157-1.