Does the season or month of birth influence disease progression in multiple sclerosis?

摘要

We investigated the influence of season and birth month on sustained progression to Expanded Disability Status Scale 6 (requires a cane) through a database review of 2,319 definite multiple sclerosis (MS) patients followed for a mean 19.3 years, until July 2003 in British Columbia, Canada. The season of birth had a marginal effect on disease progression (p = 0.051), with winter babies exhibiting the slowest progression (p = 0.048). Birth month had a significant effect on progression (p = 0.038), mainly due to those January born having a 40% (95% CI 32.9-47.4) chance of requiring a cane later than those born in other months. There was some evidence to suggest that the gestational period had a small but long-lasting effect on later disease progression in British Columbia, Canada.