Table 1. Characteristics of the selected study population of MS patients of the Academic MS Center Limburg.
Data are provided as mean (SD) and as #median (Q1-Q3) in case of skewed distributions.
| Population | Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 554 | ||
| Age (years) | 46.7 (11.6) | ||
| Sex (F/M) | 395/158 | 71%/29% | |
| MS phenotype | |||
| RRMS | 340 | 61.4% | |
| SPMS | 152 | 27.4% | |
| PPMS | 62 | 11.2% | |
| Disease duration (years) | |||
| since onset | 12.5 (10.1) | ||
| #9.7 (4.2–18.8) | |||
| since diagnosis | 7.2 (7.7) | ||
| #4.2 (0.9–11.3) | |||
| Age (years) | |||
| at onset | 34.2 (10.4) | ||
| at diagnosis | 39.6 (10.8) | ||
| Number of pre baseline relapses (in 3 years) | |||
| 0 | 196 | 35.4% | |
| 1 | 147 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | 104 | 18.8% | |
| 3 or more | 107 | 19.3% | |
| Baseline EDSS | 4.0 (2.0–6.0) | ||
| ≤3.5 | 274 | 49.5% | |
| 4.0–5.5 | 129 | 23.2% | |
| ≥6.0 | 151 | 27.3% | |
| EDSS after 3 years follow-up | 4.0 (2.5–6.5) | ||
| ≤3.5 | 228 | 41.2% | |
| 4.0–5.5 | 140 | 25.3% | |
| ≥6.0 | 186 | 33.6% | |
| Number of patients with EDSS progression after 3 years follow-up | |||
| <1 | 357 | 64.4% | |
| ≥1 | 197 | 35.6% | |
| Baseline 25(OH)D (nmol/L) | |||
| crude | 57.5 (28.4) | ||
| deseasonalized | 56.7 (28.0) | ||
| Disease modifying treatment used most frequently during follow-up | |||
| none | 225 | 40.6% | |
| first line treatment (interferon, glatiramer acetate) | 193 | 34.8% | |
| second line treatment (natalizumab, fingolimod) | 40 | 7.2% | |
| third line treatment (methotrexate, immunoglobulins, mitoxantrone) | 75 | 13.5% | |
| Other | 6 | 1.0% | |
| Unknown | 15 | 2.7% | |
| Number of relapses during three year follow-up | |||
| 0 | 288 | 52.0% | |
| 1 | 130 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | 67 | 12.1% | |
| 3 or more | 69 | 12.5% | |