Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis: results from a large observational study in the UK.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) progression to mortality may not be solely determined by the underlying autoimmune process. We conducted a study in a large cohort of MS patients with the aim of describing characteristics of MS patients and identification of predictors for all-cause mortality in this patient group. We performed a retrospective analysis of primary care data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Incident MS cases diagnosed between 1993 and 2006 were identified and validated using electronic and original medical records. Patients were followed to identify deaths; hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional regression with age as time-scale. In total, 1713 incident MS cases were identified. Following MS diagnosis, frequent comorbidities were infections (80%), and depression (46%). Adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality were: 2.0 (1.2-3.4) for current smoking; 7.6 (3.2-17.7) for alcohol abuse; 2.7 (1.6-4.5) for pneumonia and influenza; 4.1 (2.7-6.3) for urinary tract infections; 2.2 (1.2-4.2) for heart disease and 4.9 (2.9-8.0) for cancer. Our results suggest that MS survival is influenced not only by the underlying autoimmune process, but also by patient comorbidities and lifestyle factors.

Mortality of patients with multiple sclerosis: a cohort study in UK primary care.

We aimed to estimate rates, causes and risk factors of all-cause mortality in a large population-based cohort of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients compared with patients without MS. Using data from the UK General Practice Research Database, we identified MS cases diagnosed during 2001-2006 and validated using patients' original records where possible. We also included MS cases during 1993-2000 identified and validated in an earlier study. Cases were matched to up to ten referents without MS by age, sex, index date (date of first MS diagnosis for cases and equivalent reference date for controls), general practice and length of medical history before first MS diagnosis. Patients were followed up to identify deaths; hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox-proportional regression. MS patients (N = 1,822) had a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality compared with referents (N = 18,211); adjusted HR 1.7 (95 % CI 1.4-2.1). Compared with referents, female MS patients had a higher but not significantly different HR for death than males; adjusted HR 1.86 (95 % CI 1.46-2.38) vs. HR 1.31 (95 % CI 0.93-1.84), respectively. The most commonly recorded cause of death in MS patients was 'MS' (41 %), with a higher proportion recorded among younger patients. A significantly higher proportion of referents than MS patients had cancer recorded as cause of death (40 vs. 19 %). Patients with MS have a significant 1.7-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality compared with the general population. MS is the most commonly recorded cause of death among MS patients.