{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T01:48:33Z","timestamp":1783648113003,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777593600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777593600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"funder":[{"name":"Novartis GmbH"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>For giant cell arteritis (GCA), a north-south gradient in incidence and prevalence has been described, peaking in Scandinavia.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This analysis aimed to obtain up-to-date, representative data on the prevalence and incidence of GCA in Germany, updating the old, regional information on low incidence and prevalence rates.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cross-sectional analysis using a large German health insurance database.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study is based on a cross-sectional analysis of claims data from the InGef (Institute for Health Research Berlin GmbH) research database, which includes a representative sample of 4.8\u2009million insured individuals. Individuals aged \u2a7e50\u2009years with continuous insurance coverage for a 3-year baseline period and the subsequent 2\u2009years for longitudinal analysis were included. Estimates were standardised and projected to the German population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Each year from 2018 to 2021, 1.7\u2009million insured individuals met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Extrapolated to the German population \u2a7e50\u2009years in 2021, the incidence was 24\/100,000, and the prevalence was 146\/100,000. Diagnosis was made predominantly in outpatient settings by general practitioners (GP, 31.9%) and internists (19.5%), followed by rheumatologists (13.1%) and ophthalmologists (5.7%). Within 2\u2009years, 16.3% of incident patients were referred to rheumatologists for treatment after diagnosis. Treatment was most commonly initiated by GPs (45.8%), followed by rheumatologists (36.1%), and included glucocorticoids (88.2%), methotrexate (26.7%), and tocilizumab (14.1%). Most common comorbidities of prevalent patients comprised arterial hypertension (77.2%), dyslipidaemia (55.0%), diabetes mellitus (28.8%), osteoporosis (34.6%), and cataract (31.2%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Contrary to previous reports, Germany has higher incidence and prevalence rates of GCA than previously assumed. Only approximately one-third of the incident patients were initially treated by rheumatologists. Comorbidities such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases were common.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/1759720x261439725","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T11:04:20Z","timestamp":1777892660000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Frequency, diagnosis, and pharmacological treatment of giant cell arteritis in Germany: database analysis of medical insurance data"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7831-8738","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wolfgang A.","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Waldfriede Hospital, Rheumatology, Argentinische Allee 40, Berlin 14163, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8368-7298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Alibone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"InGef-Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Ludwig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"InGef-Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dominik","family":"Oberm\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"InGef-Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franziska","family":"Karl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Novartis Pharma GmbH, N\u00fcrnberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Terner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Novartis Pharma GmbH, N\u00fcrnberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7729-2759","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nils","family":"Venhoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Center \u2013 University of Freiburg, Internal Medicine, Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semarthrit.2020.07.005"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00393-020-00893-1"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajem.2022.05.042"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","first-page":"93","article-title":"The use of clinical characteristics to predict the results of temporal artery biopsy among patients with suspected giant cell arteritis","volume":"22","author":"Gabriel SE","year":"1995","unstructured":"Gabriel SE, O\u2019Fallon WM, Achkar AA, et al. 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