A review of the medical-scientific literature published until October 1, 2019 on the epidemiology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) was carried out by an Italian team. Based on around 40 studies, it has not only made it possible to estimate the prevalence of the disease for the first time worldwide, but also to assess the quality of these studies. The results of this meta-analysis published in June 2020 highlight :
- a prevalence of 7.1 cases per 100,000 men and 2.8 cases per 100,000 in the general population,
- a birth prevalence of 19.8 per 100,000 live male births.
- studies of medium (80%) or low quality (20%), none of the studies selected being of high quality,
- studies that have been conducted in Europe (59%), America (18%), Africa (14%) and Asia (9%).
According to the authors, this is the first review of the epidemiological literature on DMD in the world which also highlights the lack of quality studies on this issue.
