Table 2.
Sociodemographic and multi-morbidity characteristics at year of diagnosis, when pooling all four study cohorts and also by study cohort, which were constructed based on the year people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS)
| All cohorts | Cohort 2006 | Cohort 2007 | Cohort 2008 | Cohort 2009 | Pearson’s Chi square (p value) | Log-likelihood test Chi square (p value) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 3272 | N = 793 | N = 851 | N = 821 | N = 807 | |||
| N (%) | N (%)a | N (%)a | N (%)a | N (%)a | |||
| Sex | 0.39 (0.942) | 0.39 (0.942) | |||||
| Women | 2249 (68.73) | 552 (16.87) | 581 (17.76) | 563 (17.21) | 553 (16.9) | ||
| Men | 1023 (31.27) | 241 (7.37) | 270 (8.25) | 258 (7.89) | 254 (7.76) | ||
| Age at diagnosis | 15.48 (0.079) | 15.57 (0.076) | |||||
| 25–34 | 896 (27.38) | 216 (6.6) | 209 (6.39) | 245 (7.49) | 226 (6.91) | ||
| 35–44 | 1060 (32.4) | 247 (7.55) | 274 (8.37) | 257 (7.85) | 282 (8.62) | ||
| 45–54 | 850 (25.98) | 203 (6.2) | 231 (7.06) | 212 (6.48) | 204 (6.23) | ||
| 55–60 | 466 (14.24) | 127 (3.88) | 137 (4.19) | 107 (3.27) | 95 (2.9) | ||
| Educational levelb | 7.74 (0.56) | 7.94 (0.54) | |||||
| Elementary (0–9 years) | 433 (13.60) | 95 (2.98) | 110 (3.45) | 112 (3.52) | 116 (3.64) | ||
| High school (10–12 years) | 1561 (49.03) | 400 (12.56) | 419 (13.16) | 380 (11.93) | 362 (11.37) | ||
| University/college (> 12 years) | 1190 (37.37) | 291 (9.14) | 310 (9.74) | 299 (9.39) | 290 (9.11) | ||
| Country of birthb | 12.73 (0.389) | 13.16 (0.358) | |||||
| Sweden | 2826 (88.76) | 708 (22.24) | 733 (23.02) | 700 (21.98) | 685 (21.51) | ||
| Nordic countries (except Sweden) | 85 (2.67) | 13 (0.41) | 34 (1.07) | 19 (0.6) | 19 (0.6) | ||
| EU27 (except Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) | 71 (2.23) | 19 (0.6) | 18 (0.57) | 17 (0.53) | 17 (0.53) | ||
| Rest of the world | 202 (6.34) | 46 (1.44) | 54 (1.7) | 55 (1.73) | 47 (1.48) | ||
| Type of living areab | 13.73 (0.033) | 13.94 (0.03) | |||||
| Big cities | 1200 (37.69) | 311 (9.77) | 277 (8.7) | 310 (9.74) | 302 (9.48) | ||
| Medium-sized cities | 1087 (34.14) | 268 (8.42) | 307 (9.64) | 248 (7.79) | 264 (8.29) | ||
| Small towns/villages | 897 (28.17) | 207 (6.5) | 255 (8.01) | 233 (7.32) | 202 (6.34) | ||
| Family situationb | 34.24 (< 0.0001) | 34.68 (< 0.0001) | |||||
| Married/cohabitating without children at home | 395 (12.41) | 129 (4.05) | 117 (3.67) | 85 (2.67) | 64 (2.01) | ||
| Married/cohabitating with children at home | 1320 (41.46) | 308 (9.67) | 361 (11.34) | 333 (10.46) | 318 (9.99) | ||
| Single without children at home | 1166 (36.62) | 270 (8.48) | 279 (8.76) | 305 (9.58) | 312 (9.8) | ||
| Single with children at home | 303 (9.52) | 79 (2.48) | 82 (2.58) | 68 (2.14) | 74 (2.32) | ||
| Multi-morbidity | 4.77 (0.19) | 4.96 (0.175) | |||||
| Yes | 3027 (92.51) | 730 (22.31) | 786 (24.02) | 751 (22.95) | 760 (23.23) | ||
| No | 245 (7.49) | 63 (1.93) | 65 (1.99) | 70 (2.14) | 47 (1.44) | ||
| Anxiety/depression | 5.64 (0.131) | 5.57 (0.135) | |||||
| Yes | 181 (5.53) | 55 (1.68) | 50 (1.53) | 40 (1.22) | 36 (1.1) | ||
| No | 3091 (94.47) | 738 (22.56) | 801 (24.48) | 781 (23.87) | 771 (23.56) |
aThe percentages are calculated as n divided with the total number of individuals in the study population (3272 if not otherwise indicated; seeb)
bThe total number of individuals with this type of information in the study population (i.e. all individuals excluding those with missing information in this category) was 3184