Physical and mental health comorbidity is common in people with multiple sclerosis: nationally representative cross-sectional population database analysis

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Abstract

Background

Comorbidity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is associated with worse health and higher mortality. This study aims to describe clinician recorded comorbidities in people with MS.

Methods

39 comorbidities in 3826 people with MS aged ≥25 years were compared against 1,268,859 controls. Results were analysed by age, gender, and socioeconomic status, with unadjusted and adjusted Odds Ratios (ORs) calculated using logistic regression.

Results

People with MS were more likely to have one (OR 2.44; 95% CI 2.26-2.64), two (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.38-1.62), three (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.69-2.04), four or more (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.47-1.77) non-MS chronic conditions than controls, and greater mental health comorbidity (OR 2.94; 95% CI 2.75-3.14), which increased as the number of physical comorbidities rose. Cardiovascular conditions, including atrial fibrillation (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.36-0.67), chronic kidney disease (OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.40-0.65), heart failure (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.45-0.85), coronary heart disease (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.71), and hypertension (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.59-0.72) were significantly less common in people with MS.

Conclusion

People with MS have excess multiple chronic conditions, with associated increased mental health comorbidity. The low recorded cardiovascular comorbidity warrants further investigation.

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Most cited references 31

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Validity of diagnostic coding within the General Practice Research Database: a systematic review.

Nada F. Khan, Sian Harrison, Peter W Rose (2010)

The UK-based General Practice Research Database (GPRD) is a valuable source of longitudinal primary care records and is increasingly used for epidemiological research. To conduct a systematic review of the literature on accuracy and completeness of diagnostic coding in the GPRD. Systematic review. Six electronic databases were searched using search terms relating to the GPRD, in association with terms synonymous with validity, accuracy, concordance, and recording. A positive predictive value was calculated for each diagnosis that considered a comparison with a gold standard. Studies were also considered that compared the GPRD with other databases and national statistics. A total of 49 papers are included in this review. Forty papers conducted validation of a clinical diagnosis in the GPRD. When assessed against a gold standard (validation using GP questionnaire, primary care medical records, or hospital correspondence), most of the diagnoses were accurately recorded in the patient electronic record. Acute conditions were not as well recorded, with positive predictive values lower than 50%. Twelve papers compared prevalence or consultation rates in the GPRD against other primary care databases or national statistics. Generally, there was good agreement between disease prevalence and consultation rates between the GPRD and other datasets; however, rates of diabetes and musculoskeletal conditions were underestimated in the GPRD. Most of the diagnoses coded in the GPRD are well recorded. Researchers using the GPRD may want to consider how well the disease of interest is recorded before planning research, and consider how to optimise the identification of clinical events.

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Vascular comorbidity is associated with more rapid disability progression in multiple sclerosis.

D Campagnolo, R. Marrie, G. Cutter … (2010)

Vascular comorbidity adversely influences health outcomes in several chronic conditions. Vascular comorbidities are common in multiple sclerosis (MS), but their impact on disease severity is unknown. Vascular comorbidities may contribute to the poorly understood heterogeneity in MS disease severity. Treatment of vascular comorbidities may represent an avenue for treating MS. A total of 8,983 patients with MS enrolled in the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry participated in this cohort study. Time from symptom onset or diagnosis until ambulatory disability was compared for patients with or without vascular comorbidities to determine their impact on MS severity. Multivariable proportional hazards models were adjusted for sex, race, age at symptom onset, year of symptom onset, socioeconomic status, and region of residence. Participants reporting one or more vascular comorbidities at diagnosis had an increased risk of ambulatory disability, and risk increased with the number of vascular conditions reported (hazard ratio [HR]/condition for early gait disability 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41-1.61). Vascular comorbidity at any time during the disease course also increased the risk of ambulatory disability (adjusted HR for unilateral walking assistance 1.54; 95% CI 1.44-1.65). The median time between diagnosis and need for ambulatory assistance was 18.8 years in patients without and 12.8 years in patients with vascular comorbidities. Vascular comorbidity, whether present at symptom onset, diagnosis, or later in the disease course, is associated with a substantially increased risk of disability progression in multiple sclerosis. The impact of treating vascular comorbidities on disease progression deserves investigation.

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Comorbidity delays diagnosis and increases disability at diagnosis in MS.

R. Marrie, D Campagnolo, G. Cutter … (2009)

Comorbidity is common in the general population and is associated with adverse health outcomes. In multiple sclerosis (MS), it is unknown whether preexisting comorbidity affects the delay between initial symptom onset and diagnosis ("diagnostic delay") or the severity of disability at MS diagnosis. Using the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry, we assessed the association between comorbidity and both the diagnostic delay and severity of disability at diagnosis. In 2006, we queried participants regarding physical and mental comorbidities, including date of diagnosis, smoking status, current height, and past and present weight. Using multivariate Cox regression, we compared the diagnostic delay between participants with and without comorbidity at diagnosis. We classified participants enrolled within 2 years of diagnosis (n = 2,375) as having mild, moderate, or severe disability using Patient Determined Disease Steps, and assessed the association of disability with comorbidity using polytomous logistic regression. The study included 8,983 participants. After multivariable adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics, the diagnostic delay increased if obesity, smoking, or physical or mental comorbidities were present. Among participants enrolled within 2 years of diagnosis, the adjusted odds of moderate as compared to mild disability at diagnosis increased in participants with vascular comorbidity (odds ratio [OR] 1.51, 95% CI 1.12-2.05) or obesity (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.02-1.87). The odds of severe as compared with mild disability increased with musculoskeletal (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.25-2.63) or mental (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.23-2.14) comorbidity. Both diagnostic delay and disability at diagnosis are influenced by comorbidity. The mechanisms underlying these associations deserve further investigation.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Robert J Simpson

Gary McLean

Bruce Guthrie

Frances Mair

Stewart W Mercer

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Neurol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Neurol

Title: BMC Neurology

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2377

Publication date Collection: 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 13 June 2014

Volume: 14

Page: 128

Affiliations

[1 ]General Practice and Primary Care, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 9LX, Scotland, UK

[2 ]Quality, Safety and Informatics Research Group, Population Health Sciences Division, Mackenzie Building, Kirsty Semple Way, Dundee DD2 4BF, Scotland, UK

Article

Publisher ID: 1471-2377-14-128

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2377-14-128

PMC ID: 4064287

PubMed ID: 24925477

SO-VID: 24cfab88-21bd-4353-9108-58aca3138780

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Physical and mental health comorbidity is common in people with multiple sclerosis: nationally representative cross-sectional population database analysis

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Abstract

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Neuronal Signaling

Most cited references 31

Validity of diagnostic coding within the General Practice Research Database: a systematic review.

Vascular comorbidity is associated with more rapid disability progression in multiple sclerosis.

Comorbidity delays diagnosis and increases disability at diagnosis in MS.

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