Prevalence and Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Guilan Province

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Guilan Province) and to compare the standardized prevalence by the factor of age in this province.

The study was a cross-sectional design that was conducted in 2018 at the Guilan MS Society (GMSS) on people with multiple sclerosis and examined the 654 people with multiple sclerosis case. In this study, the trend of MS disease was examined from 2009 to 2019 and in order to investigate the rate of cumulative incidence of the disease, new cases were defined based on the date of diagnosis of the disease from the beginning of 2018. Data collection was performed using a checklist that was collected during the GMSS registration by a registrar in the form of a structured interview. Prevalence rate was compared between different subgroups using Chi-Square and Fisherchr('39')s exact tests. Field characteristics were described by using absolute and relative frequency indices or mean and standard deviation using Stata 13 and SPSS 19 statistical software.

The results showed that 71.4% of all patients were female. The mean age of the patients was 36.5 years and the highest frequency of MS was observed in the age group of 30-40. The MS patients lived in the urban were 81%. The highest initial manifestations of people with multiple sclerosis were reported in numbness or tingling, vision problems, weakness, other symptoms, and walking (Gait) difficulties, respectively. The highest prevalence of MS was in Lahijan and then Rasht and Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh citie.

From the results of this study, it is concluded that there is no significant difference between the prevalence rate in Guilan Province and the standardized rate with the age adjustment based on the WHO standard population, although no analytical comparison has been performed in this study.