Abstract
Epidemiological studies conducted largely in northern Europe and Australia have shown that Dupuytren's disease is less common in women, with reported overall male-to-female ratios ranging from 3:1 to 9.5:1. Epidemiological data from other countries cannot be extrapolated to the modern U.S. population due to genetic and environmental differences between populations. The aim of this study was to determine the gender ratio in Dupuytren's disease in the Boston, MA area. We conducted a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with Dupuytren's disease at two large academic hospitals in Boston, MA between the years January 1995 and July 2006. To minimize variability introduced by clinical diagnosis, we also used internal billing records to identify a subset of patients who received fasciectomies for Dupuytren's disease during this period. A total of 1,815 patients (1,150 men, 665 women) were identified at our institutions with a clinical diagnosis of Dupuytren's disease, giving an overall male-to-female ratio of 1.7:1. Of these, 234 patients (176 men, 58 women) received fasciectomies performed by the two senior authors, resulting in a male-to-female ratio of 3.0:1. The male-to-female ratio for patients younger than 54 years of age was 4.0:1, and the ratio approached 1:1 with increasing age. The male-to-female ratio observed in our patient population was lower than those previously reported in the literature, particularly for patients younger than 54 years of age. This study indicates that large-scale epidemiological studies are needed to accurately report Dupuytren's disease in the modern U.S. population.