The prevalence of multiple sclerosis, distribution of clinical forms of the disease and functional status of patients in Csongrad County, Hungary

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the population of Csongrad County, Hungary (400,128 inhabitants) and to determine the functional status (based on the Expanded Disability Status Scale; EDSS) of the patients according to the clinical forms of the disease. Methods: The diagnosis was established with the aid of the Poser diagnostic criteria, and the degree of physical disability was determined using the Kurtzke EDSS. Results: In Csongrad County, the prevalence of MS is 62/100,000. The distribution of patients according to the clinical forms of MS was as follows: 15% had the benign form, 54% had relapsing-remitting MS, 20% had secondary chronic progressive MS and 11% had the primary chronic progressive form of MS. Sixty percent of relapsing-remitting MS patients had an EDSS score of 0-4 points and 33% had an EDSS score of 4.5-6.5 points. Conclusion: The distribution of patients according to the clinical forms of the disease in this representative population is comparable to results in other regions of the world. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.