The incidence and prevalence of reported multiple sclerosis

Abstract

A national survey, sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, to determine the incidence, prevalence, and economic impact of multiple sclerosis has just been completed. These data are the first report of the results. Based on the data gathered, it is estimated that on January 1, 1976, there were a reported 123,000 multiple sclerosis patients in the conterminous United States (a rate of 58 per 100,000). The annual incidence for the period 1970-1975 was estimated to be 8,800 (a rate of 4.2 per 100,000). The pattern of the disease being more common among females, whites, persons aged 30-50 years, and individuals living above the 37th parallel was also demonstrated. In addition to demographic characteristics, selected disease characteristics of the incidence and prevalence populations were also examined.

Multiple Sclerosis in Gulf War Era Veterans. 2. Military Deployment and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis in the First Gulf War

“…These are among the highest reported rates in the literature. Baum and Rothschild [36] published a maximal incidence rate of 10.5 per 100,000 for individuals aged 30-39 years in their US study from the 1970s. The highest age-specific incidence rates for the all-female Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II, which spanned from 1976 to 1994, was 18.9 per 100,000 person-years for the 40- to 44-year-old group [37].…”

Multiple Sclerosis disease distribution and potential impact of environmental air pollutants in Georgia

“…They also reported the 40-59 year-old age groups had the highest prevalence of MS; the 40-49 year-old group had 103.1 per 100,000 and the 50-59 year-old group had 119.9 per 100,000. (Williamson et al 2007) In addition to this, the prevalence of MS has varied widely throughout the world (Baum and Rothschild 1981;Mayer 1981) (Rosati 2001) (de la Maza et al 2000), (Kurtzke 2000) There seems to be little definitive information as to the etiology of MS.…”

Challenges in Addressing Community Concerns Regarding Clusters of Multiple Sclerosis and Potential Environmental Exposures

“…The diagnostic index allowed for the identification and retrieval of medical charts for patients that met study eligibility and who had been diagnosed with MS by a clinical neurologist. This and other evidence suggests there are regional differences in the prevalence of MS in the USA, which makes using national estimates to establish an 'expected' number of cases even more problematic [4,11,12,[14][15][16][17][18].…”

“…Using NHIS data collected during 1989-1994 the estimated prevalence of MS is 87 cases per 100,000 population in the civilian noninstitutionalized population [11]. In 1975, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducted a survey of physicians and hospitals by using a probability sample of healthcare providers considered most likely to treat MS patients in the contiguous 50 states and reported a prevalence of 57.8 cases of MS per 100,000 population [12]. The prevalence of MS for specific locales has been reported since 1970 with a prevalence range from 22 to 160 per 100,000 population.…”