Table 2.
Comorbidities and MS medications among incident MS cases, stratified by status: alive/dead
| Alive N = 1598 n (%) | Dead N = 115 n (%) | Overall N = 1713 n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acute infections recorded on or after first MS diagnosis | |||
| Pneumonia and influenza | 112 (7.0) | 29 (25.2) | 141 (8.2) |
| Other acute respiratory infection | 751 (47.0) | 53 (46.1) | 804 (46.9) |
| Urinary tract infection | 495 (31.0) | 60 (52.2) | 555 (32.4) |
| Other infection | 1063 (66.5) | 62 (53.9) | 1125 (65.7) |
| Chronic comorbidities recorded at any time in the database | |||
| COPD and asthma | 315 (19.7) | 28 (24.3) | 343 (20.0) |
| Depression | 730 (45.7) | 55 (47.8) | 785 (45.8) |
| Diabetes | 79 (4.9) | 14 (12.2) | 93 (5.4) |
| Hypertension | 232 (14.5) | 21 (18.3) | 253 (14.8) |
| Heart diseasea | 48 (3.0) | 18 (15.7) | 66 (3.9) |
| Cancer | 83 (5.2) | 26 (22.6) | 109 (6.4) |
| Co-medications recorded on or after first MS diagnosis | |||
| MS treatmentb | 1028 (64.3) | 85 (73.9) | 1113 (65.0) |
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, MS multiple sclerosis
aIncludes ischemic heart disease, angina, myocardial infarction, and heart failure
bIncludes disease-modifying medications (interferons, glatiramer acetate, mitoxantrone, and natalizumab), steroids, and symptomatic management drugs (tizanidine, baclofen, amantadine HCL, modafinil, and fampridine)