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. 2020 Aug 23;27(12):2539–2548. doi: 10.1111/ene.14458

Table 2.

The association between clustered life events and risk of multiple sclerosis, stratified by sex

Event Population Exposure MS cases Controls OR (95% CI) P value P value for interaction
Cluster 1: Death of a close friend or relative Overall No event 1555 (0.70) 2951 (0.69) 1.00 ref
Any event 661 (0.30) 1351 (0.31) 0.90 (0.80–1.01) 0.08 0.89
Female No event 1113 (0.7) 2085 (0.68) 1.00 ref
Any event 479 (0.3) 975 (0.32) 0.89 (0.78–1.02) 0.10 NA
Male No event 442 (0.71) 866 (0.7) 1.00 ref
Any event 182 (0.29) 376 (0.3) 0.90 (0.72–1.13) 0.36 NA
Cluster 2: Sickness, accident or death of a spouse, partner or child Overall No event 2255 (0.88) 4792 (0.91) 1.00 ref
Any event 302 (0.12) 503 (0.09) 1.26 (1.08–1.47) 0.007 0.06
Female No event 1578 (0.87) 3360 (0.9) 1.00 ref
Any event 239 (0.13) 373 (0.1) 1.37 (1.14–1.63) 0.001 NA
Male No event 677 (0.91) 1432 (0.92) 1.00 ref
Any event 63 (0.09) 130 (0.08) 0.98 (0.70–1.36) 0.90 NA
Cluster 3: Serious conflict with a spouse or partner, divorce, marriage Overall No event 1191 (0.52) 2515 (0.56) 1.00 ref
Any event 1105 (0.48) 1989 (0.44) 1.14 (1.03–1.27) 0.014 0.61
Female No event 823 (0.5) 1753 (0.54) 1.00 ref
Any event 822 (0.5) 1480 (0.46) 1.16 (1.03–1.32) 0.018 NA
Male No event 368 (0.57) 762 (0.6) 1.00 ref
Any event 283 (0.43) 509 (0.4) 1.09 (0.89–1.34) 0.39 NA
Cluster 4: Conflict at work, conflict with a close relative or friend, unemployment, poor economy Overall No event 1188 (0.56) 2561 (0.61) 1.00 ref
Any event 921 (0.44) 1637 (0.39) 1.16 (1.04–1.30) 0.007 0.81
Female No event 791 (0.53) 1699 (0.57) 1.00 ref
Any event 711 (0.47) 1269 (0.43) 1.15 (1.01–1.31) 0.032 NA
Male No event 397 (0.65) 862 (0.7) 1.00 ref
Any event 210 (0.35) 368 (0.3) 1.19 (0.96–1.47) 0.12 NA

CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio.

Results adjusted for age, sex (for overall population), residential area, pack‐years of smoking, alcohol consumption in grams, levels of education. P values for interaction present P values for the event‐by‐sex interaction calculated in the overall population by adding an interaction term to the logistic model. Bold values indicate results with statistical significance, that is, a P‐value <0.05