Evaluation of Demographic, Clinical and Beyond Clinical Characteristics in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Rafsanjan City, Iran

Background and objectives : Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and progressive autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that causes motor and sensory impairment and physical disability in patients. This study was conducted to determine the demographic, clinical, and beyond clinical characteristics in patients with multiple sclerosis to help identify common disabilities and better understand of the specific needs of these ones. Materials and methods : This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 50 MS patients in Rafsanjan, Iran. A definitive diagnosis has been done according to neurologist and McDonald criteria. The neurologist conducted examinations. The demographic data were recorded using questionnaire. MRI images were analyzed with the help of radiologist and all data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results : The mean age was 33.81±8.38 years and male/female ratio was 7/42. According to data, 66.7% of the patients were suffering from relapsing-remitting type (RR) disease, and most lesions on MRI in these patients were observed in pyramidal and JuxtaCortical areas. The mean EDSS scores of patients was 1.46. The duration of disease and the number of attacks had a significant correlation with educational level (P<0.05); age was significantly associated with pyramidal, mental and sphincter symptoms (P<0.05). Conclusion : These results suggest that the prevalence of MS in women is higher than in men, especially among housekeeper women. Relapsing and remitting disease showed higher frequency.