PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF ADULTS WITH SEVERE HYPERTRIGLYCERIDAEMIA AND HIGH RISK OF ACUTE PANCREATITIS (>880 MG/DL): A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
Author(s)
Nana Kragh, MSc1, Chris D. Poole, PhD2, Louisa D. Rutherford, MBBS3, Zalmai Hakimi, PharmD, PhD1, Jameel Nazir, PhD1, Carly Rich, BSc, MSc, PhD1.
1Sobi, Stockholm, Sweden, 2Digital Health Labs, Cardiff, United Kingdom, 3Source Health Economics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
1Sobi, Stockholm, Sweden, 2Digital Health Labs, Cardiff, United Kingdom, 3Source Health Economics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
OBJECTIVES: Severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG), defined as fasting triglyceride (TG) levels ≥880 mg/dL in the 2021 EAS consensus statement, significantly increases the risk of acute pancreatitis, a potentially life-threatening complication. sHTG carries substantial burden of illness and high unmet medical need due to the limited effectiveness of conventional lipid-lowering therapies. This study aimed to characterize the epidemiology of sHTG using published real-world data.
METHODS: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using electronic publication databases and conference proceedings. Data were extracted from eligible studies reporting prevalent or incident cases of sHTG. Prevalence was pooled using a Freeman-Tukey double-arcsine random-effects model; incidence was pooled using Bayesian and frequentist random-effects models. Mixed-effects meta-regression assessed TG threshold, region, and case-ascertainment. Robustness was tested by leave-one-out and leave-multiple-out re-pooling. Pooled prevalence estimates of sHTG were age- and sex-standardized to the adult-population of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (EU5).
RESULTS: The SLR identified 2790 records; after removing duplicates and records not eligible during screening and full-text review, 22 studies (from Europe, United States and South America) contributed to the meta-analysis. Pooled estimated prevalence was 0.182% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.128-0.245; k=11); in the EU5 subset, prevalence was 0.198% (95% CI 0.186-0.211; k=4). Incidence rates were 36.0 per 100,000 person-years (95% credible interval 15.2-112.2; k=2) and 35.5 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 30.2-41.7) estimated via Bayesian and frequentist models, respectively. TG threshold and region/ascertainment explained most between-study variance (R²=37-64%); model-adjusted (de-biased) prevalence estimate was 0.163% (95% CI 0.050-0.339). Leave-one-out estimates (0.153-0.211%) confirmed robustness. sHTG was male-predominant (Male:Female ratio 3.78; 95% CI 3.03-4.71).
CONCLUSIONS: This analysis of real-world data from Europe, United States and South America estimates that sHTG affects 18-20 per 10,000 adults. These synthesized findings provide reliable epidemiological data for clinical and policy-level decision-making.
METHODS: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using electronic publication databases and conference proceedings. Data were extracted from eligible studies reporting prevalent or incident cases of sHTG. Prevalence was pooled using a Freeman-Tukey double-arcsine random-effects model; incidence was pooled using Bayesian and frequentist random-effects models. Mixed-effects meta-regression assessed TG threshold, region, and case-ascertainment. Robustness was tested by leave-one-out and leave-multiple-out re-pooling. Pooled prevalence estimates of sHTG were age- and sex-standardized to the adult-population of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (EU5).
RESULTS: The SLR identified 2790 records; after removing duplicates and records not eligible during screening and full-text review, 22 studies (from Europe, United States and South America) contributed to the meta-analysis. Pooled estimated prevalence was 0.182% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.128-0.245; k=11); in the EU5 subset, prevalence was 0.198% (95% CI 0.186-0.211; k=4). Incidence rates were 36.0 per 100,000 person-years (95% credible interval 15.2-112.2; k=2) and 35.5 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 30.2-41.7) estimated via Bayesian and frequentist models, respectively. TG threshold and region/ascertainment explained most between-study variance (R²=37-64%); model-adjusted (de-biased) prevalence estimate was 0.163% (95% CI 0.050-0.339). Leave-one-out estimates (0.153-0.211%) confirmed robustness. sHTG was male-predominant (Male:Female ratio 3.78; 95% CI 3.03-4.71).
CONCLUSIONS: This analysis of real-world data from Europe, United States and South America estimates that sHTG affects 18-20 per 10,000 adults. These synthesized findings provide reliable epidemiological data for clinical and policy-level decision-making.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
EPH218
Topic
Epidemiology & Public Health, Methodological & Statistical Research
Disease
Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity), No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas