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Reflection on the geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis in France
Author(s) -
Kurtzke J. F.,
DelasnerieLauprêre N.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1996.tb00184.x
Subject(s) - demography , cluster (spacecraft) , geography , distribution (mathematics) , multiple sclerosis , population , cluster analysis , prevalence , medicine , statistics , sociology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , psychiatry , computer science , programming language
The geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis within the 95 Départements and the 21 Régions of France was defined from a 1986 nationwide prevalence series derived from questionnaires. This indicated a significant clustering of high frequency regions in the northeastern part of the country with most significantly low areas in the south and west. Distributions were similar to those for MS death rates by Département and Région for 1968–1977, indicating geographic stability over time; but there was also evidence of diffusion over time. The 1986 prevalence distribution was also compared with all published prevalence rates for communities of France. From all these resources we conclude that all of France falls within the “high frequency zone” for MS, that the nationwide prevalence rate is at least 50 per 1 population, and that there is evidence of geographic clustering of the disease with temporal spread of the cluster.