Epidemiological characteristics of multiple sclerosis in Stavropol region

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune, infl ammatory and degenerative disease of the central nervous system and is the most common neurological disorder in young people.Purpose: to determine the clinical and epidemiological features of multiple sclerosis usig the example of the Stavropol region (SR).Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of 655 medical records of patients for 2021–2022, hospitalized in the neurological department of a multidisciplinary hospital with a diagnosis of MS, was carried out. The age, gender, place of residence of the patient, age of onset of the disease, type of MS, degree of disability, and rate of disease progression were assessed. Statistical processing was carried out using Microsoft Excel and Statistica 10 software.Results. The incidence of MS during this period was 22.7 per 100,000 population. The share of women was 70.2%, men — 29.8%. Average age — 40.04 ± 10.8 years. The vast majority of cases of onset of MS (83.2%) occur between the ages of 21 and 50 years — 82.8% of women and 84% of men. When analyzing the severity of neurological defi cit, the average score on the extended Kurtzke scale of disability was 3.53 ± 1.7 points. The rate of progression was 1.21 ± 1.1 points per year, which corresponds to a fast pace. Among those hospitalized, 65.4% have a disability group: third — 41.9% (275 patients), second — 21.4% (140 patients), fi rst — 2.1% (14 patients).Conclusion. The Stavropol Territory is one of the regions with a moderate risk of developing multiple sclerosis. The results of the work may be useful in planning medical and social care in certain territories of this region.