title: Risk for relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis in central Sardinia, Italy.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, disabling disease of the central nervous system, known for its complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. We used life table techniques to calculate age-adjusted recurrence risks for different categories of relatives of MS patients from Central Sardinia (Italy), a genetically homogeneous, stable population with a high degree of consanguinity. We included 313 probands and a total of 12,717 relatives in the analysis. The overall age-adjusted recurrence risk for relatives of MS probands is 1.90% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.57-2.30]. The age-adjusted recurrence risk in parents was 1.26% (95% CI 0.60-2.63), in children 2.33% (95% CI 0.09-5.56), in sibs 4.76% (95% CI 3.57-6.32), in second-degree relatives 0.72% (95% CI 0.42-1.22), and in third-degree relatives 1.79% (95% CI 1.27-2.51). The sex of the probands (male) and of the relatives (female), and the number of affected relatives in the family significantly increase the risk of MS in relatives.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Scienze Sanitarie Applicate e Psicocomportamentali, Sezione di Statistica Medica e Epidemiologia, Università di Pavia, Via Bassi 21, IT-27100 Pavia, Italy. inga.prokopenko@unipv.it
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prokopenko
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montomoli
authors.forename: Raffaela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferrai
authors.forename: Luigina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Musu
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Piras
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ticca
authors.forename: Bruno S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Murgia
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernardinelli
mesh_terms: D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003241:Consanguinity; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012008:Recurrence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution