title: From the Gothenburg cohort to the Swedish multiple sclerosis registry.
abstract: An overview of prevalence and incidence studies performed in Swedish centres is provided, showing improving coverage and methodology, notably the development in Gothenburg of the representative incidence cohort design. A common database for major Swedish centres was established in 1995, implementing the terminology of predictors from the Gothenburg cohort. By 2001, these databases were merged into the web-based national multiple sclerosis (MS) registry, which has had an ever-increasing coverage, although with still moderate data density. The registry now contains records on 13,000 Swedish patients with MS. It has the status of a national quality registry and exerts nation-wide pharmacological surveillance. In addition, it has been, and is being, used in nearly 100 scientific studies, including large epidemiological and genetic projects.
authors.affiliation: Institution of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gröna Stråket 11, Göteborg, Sweden. oluf.andersen@neuro.gu.se
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D013548:Sweden