Increasing Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in the Province of Sassari, Northern Sardinia

Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005

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Original Paper

Increasing Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in the Province of Sassari, Northern Sardinia
Maura Pugliatti^{a, b}, Trond Riise^b, M. Alessandra Sotgiu^a, Stefano Sotgiu^a, Wanda M. Satta^a, Luisella Mannu^a, Giovanna Sanna^a, Giulio Rosati^a

^aInstitute of Clinical Neurology, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy;
^bDepartment of Public Health, Section for Occupational Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Address of Corresponding Author

Neuroepidemiology 2005;25:129-134 (DOI: 10.1159/000086677)

Key Words

Multiple sclerosis
Epidemiology
Sardinia

Abstract

Sardinia is a high-risk area for multiple sclerosis (MS), with prevalence rates of 150 per 100,000 population. The study included 689 MS patients (female-male ratio 2.6) with disease onset between 1965 and 1999 in the province of Sassari. The mean annual incidence rate increased significantly from 1.1 per 100,000 population in 1965-1969 to 5.8 in 1995-1999, with no significant difference for gender and province sub-areas. The mean age at onset increased significantly during the same period from 25.7 to 30.6 years, while the proportion of patients with progressive initial course declined over time. The marked increase of MS incidence and the change of MS clinical phenotype over time cannot be explained by ascertainment bias only, thus pointing to a corresponding change in the distribution of exogenous risk factors in this highly genetically stable population.

Author Contacts

Maura Pugliatti, MD
Clinica Neurologica, Università degli Studi di Sassari
Viale San Pietro 10
IT-07100 Sassari (Italy)
Tel. +39 079 228231, Fax +39 079 228423, E-Mail maurap@uniss.it

Article Information

Published online: June 29, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 6
Number of Figures : 4, Number of Tables : 4, Number of References : 24

Medline Abstract (ID 15990443)

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