A reappraisal of the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

A review of multiple sclerosis (MS) case reports, using the unified record system at the Mayo Clinic for the Olmsted County population, revealed age- and sex-adjusted prevalence rates per 100,000 persons of 160 for Olmsted County and 173 for Rochester, Minnesota, on January 1, 1985. The annual age- and sex-adjusted incidence rate per 100,000 person-years from 1975 to 1984 for Olmsted County was 6.2 and for Rochester, 6.3. This incidence rate is significantly higher than what had been reported previously in Rochester (3.6/100,000) or in other communities. The estimated 25-year survival of the MS population was 76.2% +/- 4.5% compared with 87.7% for the general US white population of a similar age and sex. Survival for men was less than for women. There was no increase in survival for patients diagnosed with MS in more recent decades. No significant increase was found in cancer or autoimmune disease rates in the MS patients.