Multiple sclerosis in Peru: National prevalence study using capture-recapture analysis

Background: There is scarce epidemiological data on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Latin America. National epidemiological studies are needed to guide the health policy related to MS. Objective: To determine MS national prevalence in Pe r u and describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the disease. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional prevalence study in Peru's fou r largest regions using two sources. We included adult patients diagnosed with MS by a neurologist using the McDonald criteria. We performed a capture-recapture analysis using the nearly unbiased estimator model, and calculated prevalence as the pro-portion of the adult Peruvian population in 2016. Additionally, we summarized patients epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Results: We identified 417 cases: 135 from the first source and 282 from the one. We found a point prevalence of 9.12 cases per 100 000 inhabitants (95% CI: 5.6 -12.6). The age range was 35 to 45 years-old, and 51.9% were female. The most common type of MS was relapsing-remitting (79.3%) and the most frequent treatment was subcutaneous IFN-1b (40.7%). Conclusion: Peru has a medium MS prevalence compared to other Latin American countries. Lima is the region with the highest number of cases, with similar clinical characteristics to other countries in the region

Automated summary

This study found that Peru has a moderate MS prevalence compared to other Latin American countries, with Lima having the highest number of cases. The majority of patients were female aged 35 to 45, and the most common type of MS was relapsing-remitting.