The clinical epidemiology of multiple sclerosis.
A comprehensive knowledge of the natural course and prognosis of multiple sclerosis is of utmost importance for a physician to make it affordable in simple descriptive terms to a patient when personal and medical decisions are to be taken. It is still topical because the currently acknowledged disease-modifying agents only marginally alter the overall prognosis of the disease. It provides reference for evaluating the efficacy of a therapeutic intervention in clinical trials; clues for public health services, health insurance companies, and pharmaceutical industry in their respective activities; and insights into the pathophysiology and the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Precise, consistent, and reliable data from appropriate cohorts have become available and knowledge is fairly comprehensive.
Confavreux
Christian
C
Service de Neurologie A, Centre de Coordination EDMUS et INSERM U842, Hôpital Neurologique Pierre Wertheimer, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69677 Lyon-Bron cedex, France. christian.confavreux@chu-lyon.fr
Vukusic
Sandra
S
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate