See editorial by Krone and Ramagopalan on page 407.
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Original Article
Missed epidemics and missing links: international birth cohort trends in multiple sclerosis
Article first published online: 11 JUL 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03802.x
© 2012 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2012 EFNS
Additional Information
How to Cite
Ajdacic-Gross, V., Tschopp, A., Schmid, M., Bopp, M. and Gutzwiller, F. (2013), Missed epidemics and missing links: international birth cohort trends in multiple sclerosis. European Journal of Neurology, 20: 440–447. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03802.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 14 FEB 2013
- Article first published online: 11 JUL 2012
- Manuscript Accepted: 23 MAY 2012
- Manuscript Received: 27 MAR 2012
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- age-period-cohort analysis;
- birth cohorts;
- epidemiology;
- multiple sclerosis
Background and purpose
Many hypotheses on the etiopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) focus on risk factors occurring early in life. This study examined the variability of birth cohort trends in international MS data by means of age-period-cohort (APC) analysis.
Methods
The data from 25 countries were taken from the WHO mortality database. Data were encoded according to the International Classification of Diseases and covered slightly varying periods between 1951 and 2009. The APC analyses were based on logit models applied to cohort tables with 5-year age- and period intervals.
Results
In most countries, the birth cohort estimates peaked in those born in the first half of the 20th century. In countries from Central and Western Europe, the peak concerned those born before and around 1920. A second group of countries (Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Ireland, Scotland) shared a later peak amongst cohorts born in the 1920s and 1930s. Group 3 included Commonwealth countries, the USA and Norway, with a double or extended peak starting in the 1910s or 1920s, and ending by the 1950s. The fourth group, consisting of Mediterranean countries and Finland, was characterized by a steady increase in the birth cohort estimates until the 1950s. The fifth group with countries from Eastern Europe and Japan showed no particular pattern.
Conclusions
Birth cohort trends have influenced the change in MS risk across the 20th century in many Western countries. This silent epidemic points to a most important but unknown latent risk factor in MS.