**2. Epidemiology**

CP can be seen in all age groups depending on the etiologic factors. Although true prevalence is approximately < 50 per 100,000 adults, peaking in patients aged 46–55 years, the determination of its prevalence is difficult because of local standards and reporting bias. The incidence is predicted to be 4 to 5 new diagnoses per 100,000 yearly [1]. Data from Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese surveys have the similar results as mentioned above [2].

CP is a slightly male predominant disease due to more alcohol and tobacco usage. Recently, several studies aimed to explain male sex predominance with the changes of the Claudin (CLDN)2 locus on the X chromosome in alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis [3, 4].

Hospital admission for acute and chronic pancreatitis are increasing in the United States. Pancreatitis (acute and chronic) was among the three most common benign gastrointestinal diagnoses and accounted for a 12% increase in emergency room visits since 2006 according to US registry-based analysis that was published in 2019 [5]. Considering the stable or decreasing tobacco and alcohol use in most western countries and the probable unchanging prevalence of genetic risk factors, greater sensitivity of diagnostic testing can be the cause of increased hospital admissions. Approximately 3–35% of patients with a first episode of acute pancreatitis will progress to chronic pancreatitis over 3–8 years [6, 7]. Oppositely, only about 50% of patients with chronic pancreatitis had previously documented episodes of acute pancreatitis [8].

Black patients suffer more severe pain and disability and have more advanced morphological changes on the imaging techniques compared with white patients [9]. These results can be explained by more frequent usage of alcohol and tobacco in those patients. CP, like in many countries, is a male predominance disease in Turkey. The median age of the disease is 46 for male patients and 50 for female patients. The main etiological factor for the disease is alcohol abuse [10].
