Chronic pancreatitis correlates with increased risk of herpes zoster in a population-based retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The association between chronic pancreatitis and herpes zoster has not been fully investigated. The objective of the study was to investigate whether there is an association between chronic pancreatitis and herpes zoster in Taiwan.

METHODS: Using the claim data of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program, we identified 1,545 participants aged 20-84 years with a new diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis from 2000 to 2012 as the chronic pancreatitis group. We selected 6,022 sex-matched and age-matched participants without chronic pancreatitis as the non-chronic pancreatitis group. The incidence of herpes zoster at the end of 2013 was measured. The multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to measure the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for herpes zoster associated with chronic pancreatitis.

RESULTS: The overall incidence of herpes zoster was 1.34-fold greater in the chronic pancreatitis group than the non-chronic pancreatitis group (6.22 vs. 4.63 per 1,000 person-years, 95% CI 1.16-1.57). After controlling for confounding factors, the adjusted HR of herpes zoster was 1.35 (95% CI 1.01-1.82) for the chronic pancreatitis group, compared with the non-chronic pancreatitis group.

CONCLUSIONS: Chronic pancreatitis correlates with 1.35-fold increased risk of herpes zoster. From a view of primary prevention, we suggest that patients with chronic pancreatitis should receive herpes zoster vaccination.