4 to 12 Million May Have IC

New research supports that interstitial cystitis (IC) is much more prevalent than originally thought. The total and the proportion of men with IC is much higher than originally estimated.

Women: 3 to 8 million women in the United States may have IC. That is about 3 to 6% of all women in the US.

Men: 1 to 4 million men have IC as well, however, this number is likely lower than the true rate because IC in men may often be mistaken for another disorder, such as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Children: Many adults comment that their IC symptoms started in childhood. Pediatricians also diagnose children with this chronic condition. But, epidemiology studies have not yet been done to estimate the true prevalence of children with IC.

How We Calculated the Numbers


Source: J. Quentin Clemens. Male Pelvic Pain. International Pelvic Pain Society 18th Annual Scientific Meeting on Chronic Pelvic Pain

Statistics for women are based on the findings of the RAND IC Epidemiology Study (RICE), the largest IC epidemiology study ever undertaken. This survey of more than 100,000 US households told us that from 2.7 to 6.5 percent of US women may have IC, which translates to about 3 to 8 million women. On the landmark IC studies page, there is a summary of the findings and poster session presented at the 2009 American Urologic Association meeting.

Prevalence estimates for men are based on the findings of the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey conducted in 2002 of residents in the Boston metropolitan area. Researchers interviewed some 6,000 men and women, ages 30 to 79, in their homes. One third of the randomly sampled population was African American; one third, Hispanic; and one third, Caucasian. At the 2008 AUA annual meeting and in the Journal of Urology, investigators revealed that many more men appear to have IC than initially thought. There’s a summary of the BACH findings on the landmark IC studies page.

IC Prevalence by State

Using the percentages of men and women affected by IC in the US, we calculated estimates of people affected by state based on US Census Bureau statistics.

 

State

# of People with IC

State

# of People with IC
Alabama 61,340 – 186,476 Montana 12,729 – 38,697
Alaska 9,030 – 27,451 Nebraska 23,466 – 71,337
Arizona 85,529 – 260,007 Nevada 34,213 – 104,007
Arkansas 37,570 – 114,215 New Hampshire 17,313 – 52,632
California 483,640 – 1,470,266 New Jersey 114,246 – 347,306
Colorado 64,992 – 197,578 New Mexico 26,110 – 79,374
Connecticut 46,069 – 140,050 New York 256,451 – 779,612
Delaware 11,488 – 34,923 North Carolina 121,348 – 368,897
District of Columbia 7,787 – 23,673 North Dakota 8,441 – 25,659
Florida 241,162 – 733,133 Ohio 151,130 – 459,436
Georgia 127,444 – 387,430 Oklahoma 47,926 – 145,694
Hawaii 16,949 – 51,528 Oregon 49,869 – 151,602
Idaho 20,050- 60,953 Pennsylvania 163,793 – 497,931
Illinois 169,757 – 516,062 Rhode Island 13,826 – 42,032
Indiana 83,905 – 255,072 South Carolina 58,945 – 179,192
Iowa 38,994 – 107,234 South Dakota 10,582 – 32,168
Kansas 36,870 – 112,085 Tennessee 81,775 – 248,596
Kentucky 56,174 – 170,769 Texas 320,092 – 973,079
Louisiana 58,037 – 176,430 Utah 36,006 – 109,457
Maine 17,321 – 52,658 Vermont 8,175 – 24,851
Maryland 74,126 – 225,343 Virginia 102,225 – 310,764
Massachusetts 85,499 – 259,919 Washington 86,174 – 261,969
Michigan 131,624 – 400,136 West Virginia 23,875 – 72,579
Minnesota 68,689 – 208,816 Wisconsin 74,052 – 225,119
Mississippi 38,666 – 117,545 Wyoming 7,009 – 21,307
Missouri 77,784 – 236,464

 

Learn More About IC

Revised Monday, February 18th, 2019