Multiple sclerosis and age: clinical and paraclinical comparisons

Abstract

Objective — to assess the association of age, chronometric parameters and gender with the frequency of exacerbations of MS in the remitting‑recurring course of 4 follow‑up years of observation.Methods and subjects. We conducted a prospective study that lasted from January 2014 to January 2018 at the Center of Multiple Sclerosis in the Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital. We registered all cases of exacerbations of MS in patients (n = 128) from Volyn region with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis according to McDonald 2010 criteria, with a remitting‑recurring course of the disease. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 18, MedCalc and Microsoft Excel software using standard descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis.Results. The conducted population cohort study of patients with MS has established a higher prevalence of MS in female subjects, as well as the absence of a difference in the frequency of relapse of the disease, depending on the gender. We found a weak positive ratio (r = 0.24, p < 0.001) between the duration of the disease and the frequency of MS’s in male patients. The rate of recurrence of MS at the mean age of 20 — 39 years for male patients was — 0.48, and for female patients — 0.37; male patients over 40 years old — 0.21,female patients — 0.42; female patients after 50 years — 0.66.Conclusions. It is established that the course of MS is significantly different among males and females, especially in terms of age indicators. The frequency of recurrence of MS in adult males gradually decreases by about 2.5 times with the age correlation (however, such data may be related to the size of the sample of males); in women — the frequency of exacerbations is kept at a relatively stable level up to 50 years, and after reaching the age of menopause, there is a sharp increase in the frequency of exacerbations by 2 times. The revealed weak positive ratio between the duration of the disease and the frequency of MS recurrence in males may be associated with the rate of progression, which requires further research. Women did not demonstrate such correlation.