Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune condition primarily affecting women and often diagnosed during childbearing years. This study assessed the impact of the lookback period and calculation method on MS prevalence in three healthcare data sources including women of childbearing age (from Italy, Norway and Wales) and three data sources including pregnant women (from France, Finland and Spain). Women aged 15 to 49 years from 2005 to 2019 were included, data from pregnant women were collected around the pregnancy period. MS cases were identified based on at least one MS diagnosis or one dispensation for an MS-specific medication. All data sources provided inpatient diagnoses and medication data; outpatient diagnoses were available in Norway and Finland, and primary care diagnoses in Norway, Finland and Wales. We assessed MS case detection rate by lookback period, and compared three methods for estimating yearly MS prevalence: period prevalence (PP), average point prevalence (APP) and person-time prevalence (PTP). The estimated lookback periods to identify 95% of MS cases ranged from 6 to 9 years. APP and PTP provided lower prevalence estimates than PP, especially when the lookback to identify MS was short. In women of childbearing age, MS prevalence increased over time with all calculation methods and the highest MS prevalence was observed in Norway (PP of 402 per 100,000 in 2019). Finland showed the highest MS prevalence in pregnant women (PP of 218 per 100,000 in 2018). This study highlights the importance of sufficient lookback and available data to accurately estimate MS prevalence.