Table 1.
Basic characteristics of incident MS cases at MS diagnosis, stratified by status: alive/dead
| Alive N = 1598 n (%) | Dead N = 115 n (%) | Overall N = 1713 n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age in years (SD) | 41.1 (11.2) | 51.4 (14.5) | 41.8 (11.7) |
| Year of birth | |||
| <1940 | 55 (3.4) | 32 (27.8) | 87 (5.1) |
| 1940–1949 | 252 (15.8) | 30 (26.1) | 282 (16.5) |
| 1950–1959 | 423 (26.5) | 26 (22.6) | 449 (26.2) |
| 1960–1969 | 493 (30.9) | 21 (18.3) | 514 (30.0) |
| 1970+ | 375 (23.5) | 6 (5.2) | 381 (22.2) |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 1181 (73.9) | 79 (68.7) | 1260 (73.6) |
| Male | 417 (26.1) | 36 (31.3) | 453 (26.4) |
| Smoking status | |||
| Never | 715 (44.7) | 31 (27.0) | 746 (43.6) |
| Current | 501 (31.4) | 42 (36.5) | 543 (31.7) |
| Former | 187 (11.7) | 21 (18.3) | 208 (12.1) |
| Unknown | 195 (12.2) | 21 (18.3) | 216 (12.6) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | |||
| <18.5 | 38 (2.4) | 4 (3.5) | 42 (2.5) |
| 18.5–24.99 | 615 (38.5) | 47 (40.9) | 662 (38.7) |
| 25.0–29.99 | 372 (23.3) | 26 (22.6) | 398 (23.2) |
| ≥30 | 229 (14.3) | 13 (11.3) | 242 (14.1) |
| Unknown | 344 (21.5) | 25 (21.7) | 369 (21.5) |
| Alcohol abuse | 17 (1.1) | 8 (7.0) | 25 (1.5) |
| Type of MSa | |||
| RRMS | 631 (78.7) | 24 (49.0) | 655 (77.0) |
| PPMS | 108 (13.5) | 10 (20.4) | 118 (13.9) |
| SPMS | 49 (6.1) | 10 (20.4) | 59 (6.9) |
| Unknown | 14 (1.7) | 5 (10.2) | 19 (2.2) |
| Symptoms at onseta | |||
| Sensory | 241 (30.0) | 6 (12.2) | 247 (29.0) |
| Motor | 186 (23.2) | 15 (30.6) | 201 (23.6) |
| Optic neuritis | 164 (20.4) | 7 (14.3) | 171 (20.1) |
| Multiple symptomsb | 42 (5.2) | 7 (14.3) | 49 (5.8) |
| Other | 98 (12.2) | 5 (10.2) | 103 (12.1) |
| Missing | 71 (8.9) | 9 (18.4) | 80 (9.4) |
BMI body mass index, MS multiple sclerosis, PPMS primary progressive MS, RRMS relapsing-remitting MS, SD standard deviation
aAmong 851 MS cases confirmed by original records (1993–2006)
b49 MS patients had multiple symptoms at onset