Prevalence and incidence of bronchiectasis in Italy

Background The understanding of the epidemiology of bronchiectasis is still affected by major limitations with very few data published worldwide. The aim of this study was to estimate the epidemiological burden of bronchiectasis in Italy in the adult population followed-up by primary care physicians. Methods This study analyzed data coming from a large primary care database with 1,054,376 subjects in the period of time 2002-2015. Patients with bronchiectasis were selected by the use of International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification codes (ICD-9-CM). Results Patients with bronchiectasis were more likely to have a history of tuberculosis (0.47% vs. 0.06%, p Conclusions Bronchiectasis is not a rare condition in Italian adult population. Further studies are needed to confirm our results and provide a better insight on etiology of bronchiectasis in Italy. Trial registration not applicable.