Neurological Department, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Neurological Department, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2018 Feb;20:129-131. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2018.01.009. Epub 2018 Mar 20.
A gradient of prevalence of MS has been previously reported, and this may be due to different environmental and genetic features of the different populations, but also to methodological issues. In France, for example, three studies analysed the presence of such a gradient with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to assess whether digital epidemiology could confirm the presence of such a gradient.
through Google Trends, we analysed the relative search volume (RSV) for 'multiple sclerosis' in France, from 2004 to 2017, and assessed if an association with the decimal degree of latitude existed.
Latitude was correlated with crude RSV (r 0.39, p 0.04) in the 21 regions considered, with a southwest/northeast gradient. A multiple linear regression model adjusted for sex and age confirmed the existence of such a latitudinal effect, with an increase of 2.43 RSV units for each unit increase in latitude (95% CIs 0.62-4.24, p < 0.01, adjusted r 0.61).
our study provides additional evidence for the existence of a latitude gradient in MS, and the value of Internet-acquired data as real-time surveillance tools and alerts for healthcare systems.
先前已有研究报道多发性硬化症（MS）的患病率呈梯度分布，这可能是由于不同人群的环境和遗传特征不同，但也可能与方法学问题有关。例如，在法国，有三项研究分析了这种梯度的存在，但结果相互矛盾。本研究旨在评估数字流行病学是否可以证实这种梯度的存在。
通过 Google Trends，我们分析了 2004 年至 2017 年法国多发性硬化症的相对搜索量（RSV），并评估了与纬度的十分度是否存在关联。
在所考虑的 21 个地区中，纬度与粗 RSV 呈正相关（r=0.39，p=0.04），呈西南/东北梯度分布。调整性别和年龄的多元线性回归模型证实了这种纬度效应的存在，纬度每增加一个单位，RSV 增加 2.43 个单位（95%置信区间为 0.62-4.24，p<0.01，调整后的 r=0.61）。
本研究为 MS 存在纬度梯度提供了额外证据，同时也证明了互联网获取的数据作为医疗保健系统实时监测工具和警报的价值。
