OBJECTIVE: To investigate utility of a Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS)-based classification system for comparing African American (AA) and white American (WA) multiple sclerosis (MS) subpopulations in the New York State Multiple Sclerosis Consortium (NYSMSC) database. MSSS is a frequency-rank algorithm relating MS disability to disease duration in a large, untreated reference population. Design/ METHODS: Distributions of patients in 6 MSSS-based severity grades were calculated for AA and WA registrants. RESULTS: There were 419 AA and 5,809 WA patients in the NYSMSC, who had EDSS recorded during years 1-30 since symptom onset. Median EDSS was not different in AA and WA (3.5 vs 3.0, p = 0.60), whereas median MSSS in AA was higher than in WA (6.0 vs 4.8, p = 0.001). AA patients were overrepresented in the 2 most severe grades (41.5% vs 29.3% for WA) and underrepresented in the 2 lowest grades (23.4% vs 35.4%; p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis (ordered logistic and median regression), MSSS for AA remained significantly higher than in WA after adjusting for age, gender, disease duration, disease type distribution, and treatment with disease-modifying therapies. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-tiered MSSS grading system is a powerful tool for comparing rate of disease progression in subpopulations of interest. MSSS-based analysis demonstrates that African ancestry is a risk factor for a more rapidly disabling disease course.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate utility of a Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS)-based classification system for comparing African American (AA) and white American (WA) multiple sclerosis (MS) subpopulations in the New York State Multiple Sclerosis Consortium (NYSMSC) database. MSSS is a frequency-rank algorithm relating MS disability to disease duration in a large, untreated reference population. Design/ METHODS: Distributions of patients in 6 MSSS-based severity grades were calculated for AA and WA registrants. RESULTS: There were 419 AA and 5,809 WA patients in the NYSMSC, who had EDSS recorded during years 1-30 since symptom onset. Median EDSS was not different in AA and WA (3.5 vs 3.0, p = 0.60), whereas median MSSS in AA was higher than in WA (6.0 vs 4.8, p = 0.001). AA patients were overrepresented in the 2 most severe grades (41.5% vs 29.3% for WA) and underrepresented in the 2 lowest grades (23.4% vs 35.4%; p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis (ordered logistic and median regression), MSSS for AA remained significantly higher than in WA after adjusting for age, gender, disease duration, disease type distribution, and treatment with disease-modifying therapies. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-tiered MSSS grading system is a powerful tool for comparing rate of disease progression in subpopulations of interest. MSSS-based analysis demonstrates that African ancestry is a risk factor for a more rapidly disabling disease course.
Authors: Natalia Gonzalez Caldito; Shiv Saidha; Elias S Sotirchos; Blake E Dewey; Norah J Cowley; Jeffrey Glaister; Kathryn C Fitzgerald; Omar Al-Louzi; James Nguyen; Alissa Rothman; Esther Ogbuokiri; Nicholas Fioravante; Sydney Feldman; Ohemaa Kwakyi; Hunter Risher; Dorlan Kimbrough; Teresa C Frohman; Elliot Frohman; Laura Balcer; Ciprian Crainiceanu; Peter C M Van Zijl; Ellen M Mowry; Daniel S Reich; Jiwon Oh; Dzung L Pham; Jerry Prince; Peter A Calabresi Journal: Brain Date: 2018-11-01 Impact factor: 13.501
Authors: J M Gelfand; B A C Cree; J McElroy; J Oksenberg; R Green; E M Mowry; J W Miller; S L Hauser; A J Green Journal: Neurology Date: 2011-05-24 Impact factor: 9.910
Authors: Ana Cristina Wing; Joana Hygino; Thais B Ferreira; Taissa M Kasahara; Priscila O Barros; Priscila M Sacramento; Regis M Andrade; Solange Camargo; Fernanda Rueda; Soniza V Alves-Leon; Claudia Cristina Vasconcelos; Regina Alvarenga; Cleonice A M Bento Journal: Immunology Date: 2015-12-02 Impact factor: 7.397
Authors: Dorlan J Kimbrough; Elias S Sotirchos; James A Wilson; Omar Al-Louzi; Amy Conger; Darrel Conger; Teresa C Frohman; Shiv Saidha; Ari J Green; Elliot M Frohman; Laura J Balcer; Peter A Calabresi Journal: Ann Neurol Date: 2015-01-13 Impact factor: 10.422
Authors: Ilya Kister; Eric Chamot; Amber R Salter; Gary R Cutter; Tamar E Bacon; Joseph Herbert Journal: Neurology Date: 2013-02-20 Impact factor: 9.910