Correlation analysis between clinical indicators in different types of multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Objective: to assess the influence of clinical indicators on the nature of the prognosis for different types of multiple sclerosis (MS) using correlation analysis Correlation analysis was carried out between clinical indicators characterizing different time stages (premorbid stage, debut, remission after debut and recurrent stage in recurrent and secondary-progressive (SP), progression stage in SP and primary progressive course of MS. In graphical form, structures were obtained that selectively unite groups of indicators with high connections (0.95 and higher) in the so-called clinical and statistical syndromes, which in the form of a special network were a system of connections between clinical symptoms (indicators) during the entire period of the disease development. In the obtained correlation structures, two levels of organization of connections were distinguished: intra-stage and inter-stage, which have different structural organization for different types of MS flow. For each type of course, three groups of indicators are identified: the first group (the so-called “centers of influence”) includes indicators from which the arrows are directed to other symptoms; the second group (the so-called “controlled” indicators), which “accumulate” incoming influences from the outside; the third group (the so-called “transit” indicators), which simultaneously have both influence networks and controlled networks, i. e. equally combine two alternative options. Analysis of the connections between the indicated groups of indicators with different informational value determined the further nature of the forecast. The study made it possible to prove that the formation of a prognosis within the framework of a single nosological form (MS) occurs as a result of a complex multilevel structural reorganization of correlations between individual clinical indicators, both at different time stages and with different types of the course of the disease.