Epidemiological study of multiple sclerosis in Hong Kong Chinese: questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVE

To study the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Hong Kong Chinese.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

SETTING

Neurology and paediatric neurology departments in Hong Kong from January through June 1999.

PARTICIPANTS

All confirmed multiple sclerosis patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Demographic data, investigation results, Kurtzke's Expanded Disability Status Scale during the last follow-up visit, number of relapses between 1997 and 1998, and treatments used/currently in use.

RESULTS

Fifty-three Chinese multiple sclerosis patients were identified. The prevalence was thus estimated to be 0.77 per 100,000 population. This low prevalence was also noted in other multiple sclerosis studies from South-East Asia (range, 0.8-4 per 100,000 population). The female to male ratio among the Chinese multiple sclerosis sufferers was 9.6:1, a figure somewhat higher than that reported in the other studies from South-East Asia (range, 3.2-6.6:1). The Chinese multiple sclerosis patients in this study also had a high spinal cord involvement (66%) and a low presence of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal banding (40%). These findings were different from those in Caucasian multiple sclerosis patients.

CONCLUSION

Multiple sclerosis in Hong Kong Chinese has a low prevalence, a high female to male ratio, and a low cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal banding presence.