Risk factors for multiple sclerosis in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic

Abstract

To study the features of the representation of risk factors for the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR). The results of the examination and follow - up of patients with MS for 5 years (2012-2015) living in two regions of the CBD-Nalchik and the Prokhladnensky district-were analyzed. For the diagnosis of MS, the McDonald criteria (2010) were used, and the EDSS scale was used to assess the severity of invalidization. Registration of risk factors for the development of MS was carried out on the basis of a unified questionnaire. The diagnosis of MS was established based on the criteria of I. MacDonald (2017). Contact with potentially dangerous chemical compounds, consumption of smoked meat products, and a history of viral infections were significantly more common in residents of the Prokhladnensky district (all differences were significant, p<0.05). Patients with MS were more likely to have suffered from scarlatina (n=23; 19.5% and n=14; 13.4%, 95% CI 0.43 (0.32-1.01), patients with scarlet fever after the age of 15 years (n=7; 6.3% and n=1; 0.9%, 95% CI 2.45 (1.92-3.21), p=0.041). Also, in the main group, patients with chickenpox were more common (n=70; 62.5% and n=55; 41.1%; 95% CI 0.78 (0.65-0.94, p=0.032), while the closest association of chickenpox and MS development occurred in patients of the main group who had the disease at the age of 7 years (p=0.041).