MS Mortality Rates Unchanged in 50 years

Over the past 50 years, excess mortality rates among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) relative to the general population has not changed, with female patients at a greater disadvantage than males, according to a meta-analysis of 12 studies spanning from 1949 to 2012.

Investigators determined all-cause, cause-specific, and gender-specific crude mortality rates to assess standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) in 27,423 MS patients and found the following SMRs:

• Pooled all-cause: 2.8

• All-cause, male: 2.56

• All-cause, female: 3.06

• Cancer: 0.89

• Cardiovascular: 1.29

• Suicide: 2.13

• Respiratory disease and infection: 2.91

Citation: Manouchehrinia A, Tanasescu R, Tench CR, Constantinescu CS. Mortality in multiple sclerosis: meta-analysis of standardised mortality ratios. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2015. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2015-310361.