Time to diagnosis in multiple sclerosis: Epidemiological data from the German Multiple Sclerosis Registry

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the time to diagnosis in multiple sclerosis (MS) in Germany.

Methods: Analysis of real-world registry data from the German Multiple Sclerosis Registry (GMSR) and performing a primary analysis in patients where month-specific registration of the dates of onset and diagnosis was available.

Results: As of January 2020, data of a total of 28,658 patients with MS were extracted from the GMSR, with 9836 patients included in the primary analysis. The mean time to diagnosis was shorter following the introduction of the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based McDonald criteria in 2001. This effect was most pronounced in younger adults below the age of 40 years with relapsing onset multiple sclerosis (ROMS), with a decrease from 1.9 years in 2010 to 0.9 years in 2020, while unchanged in patients aged 40-50 years (1.4 years in 2010 and 1.3 years in 2020). In the limited number of paediatric onset MS patients, the time to diagnosis was longer and did not change (2.9 years).

Conclusion: The current sensitive MRI-based diagnostic criteria have likely contributed to an earlier diagnosis of MS in Germany in younger adults aged 18-39 years with ROMS. Whether this translated to earlier initiation of disease-modifying treatment or had a beneficial effect on patient outcomes remains to be demonstrated.

Keywords: Epidemiology; diagnosis; multiple sclerosis; registry.