A matched case-control study of risk factors associated with multiple sclerosis in Kuwait
- PDF / 707,695 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 38 Downloads / 225 Views
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
A matched case-control study of risk factors associated with multiple sclerosis in Kuwait Hadeel El-Muzaini1* , Saeed Akhtar1 and Raed Alroughani2
Abstract Background: Genetic and environmental factors seem to have etiologic roles in multiple sclerosis (MS). Kuwait is regarded as medium to high risk country for MS. However, there is a paucity of published data on the risk factors for MS in Kuwait. Therefore, this matched case-control study examined the association between various factors including family history, stressful life events, exposure to tobacco smoke, vaccination history, comorbidities and MS risk in Kuwait. Methods: Confirmed 110 MS cases and age (± 5 years), gender and nationality matched controls (1:1) were enrolled. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data through face-to-face interviews both from cases and controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Results: Among both cases and controls, majority were Kuwaiti (82.7%), and female (76.4%). Multivariable model showed that cases compared to controls were significantly more likely to have had a family history of MS (adjusted matched odds ratio (mORadj) = 5.1; 95% CI: 2.1–12.4; p < 0.001) or less likely to have been vaccinated against influenza A and B viruses before MS onset (mORadj = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2–0.8; p = 0.010). None of the other variables considered were significantly related to MS status in this study. Conclusions: Family history of MS had significantly direct, whereas, vaccination against influenza A and B viruses had inverse associations with MS status. Future studies may contemplate to verify the observed results. Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Family history, Matched case-control study, Conditional logistic regression, Middle-east
Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurological disorder that affects young adults, causing a range of morbidities and disabilities [1–3]. Globally, the estimated number of people with MS has increased from 2.1 million in 2008 to 2.3 million in 2013 [4], with higher prevalence in females [1]. Also, in Kuwait the sex ratio (female: male) of 1.9 among MS cases has been reported [5, 6]. The precise etiology of MS continues to be undefined. However, epidemiological studies have suggested that environmental exposures of genetically susceptible individuals play an important role in the causation of MS. Additionally, family history, ethnicity, viral infections mainly Epstein–Barr virus * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kuwait, PO Box 24923, 13110 Safat, Kuwait Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
(EBV), vitamin D deficiency, geographic location have been shown to be the risk factors for MS [1]. Month of birth has been shown to increase MS risk in different countries, which might be associated with varying length of exposure to sunlight and perhaps resulting in vitamin D deficiency
Data Loading...
