Table 1.
Patient baseline characteristics
| n (%), unless otherwise specified | Non-black/Non-AA patients n = 4897 |
Black/AA patients n = 187 |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) age, years | 40 (11) | 43 (11) |
| Age category, years | ||
| < 40 | 2498 (51) | 73 (39) |
| ≥ 40 | 2398 (49) | 114 (61) |
| Sex, F | 3603 (74) | 155 (83) |
| Region | ||
| USA, including Puerto Rico | 1216 (25) | 181 (97) |
| Western Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia | 2806 (57) | 6 (3) |
| Eastern Europe plus India, Mexico, and Argentina | 875 (18) | 0 (0) |
| Median (range) age at MS diagnosis, years | 34 (9–83) | 36 (15–64) |
| Median (range) duration between most recent relapse and enrollment, months | 5.8 (0–410) | 6.2 (0–182) |
| Median (range) number of relapses within past 12 months | 1 (0–6) | 1 (0–4) |
| Mean (SD) DMF treatment duration, months | 21.5 (16.2) | 21.2 (17.0) |
| Patients with minimum 1-year follow-up | 3124 (64) | 114 (61) |
| Patients with minimum 2-year follow-up | 1877 (38) | 70 (37) |
| Median (range) duration in ESTEEM, months | 24.4 (0–63) | 23.2 (2–60) |
| Mean (SD) EDSS scoreb | 2.10 (1.48) | 3.17 (2.29) |
| Prior MS treatment | 3109 (64) | 139 (74) |
| Glatiramer acetate | 1209 (39) | 76 (55) |
| Intramuscular IFNβ-1a | 932 (30) | 54 (39) |
| Subcutaneous IFNβ-1a | 1488 (48) | 56 (40) |
| IFNβ-1b | 194 (6) | 1 (1) |
| Fingolimod | 279 (9) | 14 (10) |
| Teriflunomide | 213 (7) | 8 (6) |
| Tobacco use | 2738 | 133 |
| Current user | 705 (26) | 21 (16) |
| Non-tobacco user | 2033 (74) | 112 (84) |
AA African American, EDSS Expanded Disability Status Scale, IFN interferon, MS multiple sclerosis
aAge = (year diagnosed or year of first MS symptom − year of birth + 1)
bFor patients with available data at enrollment from EDSS assessment. Non-black/non-AA patients, n = 2797; black/AA patients, n = 24