King Fahd Medical City (KFMC), MOH, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
King Fahd Specialist Hospital (KFSH)-Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
BMC Neurol. 2020 Feb 8;20(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12883-020-1629-3.
In 2015, the first nationwide, multicenter Multiple Sclerosis (MS) registry was initiated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) mainly with an objective to describe current epidemiology, disease patterns, and clinical characteristics of MS in Saudi Arabia. This article aimed to report initial findings of the registry and regional prevalence of MS.
In 2015, a national MS registry was launched in KSA to register all MS patient with confirmed diagnosis according to the 2010 McDonald Criteria. The registry aimed to identify and recruit all healthcare facilities treating MS patients in the Kingdom, and collect data such as demographics, clinical characteristics (disease onset, diagnosis, presentation of symptoms at onset, disease course, relapse rate, and disability measures), family history, and treatments. All the included sites have obtained IRB/EC approvals for participating in the registry. Currently, the registry includes 20 hospitals from different regions across the Kingdom. The Projected prevalence was calculated based on the assumption that the number of diagnosed MS cases in participating hospitals (in each region) is similar to the number of cases in remaining nonparticipant hospitals in the same region.
As of September 2018, the registry has included 20 hospitals from the different regions across the Kingdom and has collected comprehensive data on 2516 patients from those hospitals, with median age 32 (Range: 11-63) and 66.5% being females. The reported prevalence of MS for those hospitals was estimated to be 7.70/100,000 population and 11.80/100,000 Saudi nationals. Based on the assumption made earlier, we projected the prevalence for each region and for the country as a whole. The overall prevalence of MS at the country level was reported to be 40.40/100,000 total population and 61.95/100,000 Saudi nationals. Around 3 out of every 4 patients (77.5%) were 40 years of age or younger. Female to male ratio was 2:1. The prevalence was higher among females, young and educated individuals across all five regions of Saudi Arabia.
The prevalence of MS has significantly increased in Saudi Arabia but is still much lower than that in the western and other neighboring countries like Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. However, compared to the past rates, Saudi Arabia's projected prevalence of MS through this national study is 40.40/100,000 population, putting the Kingdom above the low risk zone as per Kurtzke classification. The projected prevalence was estimated to be much higher among Saudi nationals (61.95/100,000 Saudi-nationals). The prevalence was higher among female, younger and educated individuals. Further studies are needed to assess the risk factors associated with increased prevalence in Saudi Arabia.
2015 年，沙特阿拉伯（KSA）启动了首个全国性、多中心多发性硬化症（MS）注册中心，主要目的是描述沙特阿拉伯目前 MS 的流行病学、疾病模式和临床特征。本文旨在报告该注册中心的初步发现和 MS 的区域患病率。
2015 年，沙特阿拉伯启动了一项全国性 MS 注册中心，以根据 2010 年 McDonald 标准登记所有确诊的 MS 患者。该注册中心旨在确定并招募王国境内治疗 MS 患者的所有医疗机构，并收集数据，如人口统计学、临床特征（发病、诊断、发病时症状表现、病程、复发率和残疾测量）、家族史和治疗情况。所有参与的地点都获得了机构审查委员会/伦理委员会的批准，以参与该注册中心。目前，该注册中心包括来自王国不同地区的 20 家医院。基于假设，即参与医院（每个地区）的确诊 MS 病例数与同一地区未参与医院的病例数相似，计算了预计患病率。
截至 2018 年 9 月，该注册中心已包括来自王国不同地区的 20 家医院，并从这些医院收集了 2516 名患者的综合数据，中位年龄为 32 岁（范围：11-63 岁），女性占 66.5%。这些医院报告的 MS 患病率估计为 7.70/100,000 人口和 11.80/100,000 沙特国民。基于先前的假设，我们预测了每个地区和整个国家的患病率。全国范围内 MS 的总患病率报告为 40.40/100,000 总人口和 61.95/100,000 沙特国民。大约每 4 名患者中有 3 名（77.5%）年龄在 40 岁或以下。女性与男性的比例为 2:1。在沙特阿拉伯的五个地区，患病率在女性、年轻人和受教育程度较高的人群中都较高。
MS 在沙特阿拉伯的患病率显著增加，但仍远低于西方国家和科威特、卡塔尔和阿联酋等其他邻国。然而，与过去的比率相比，沙特阿拉伯通过这项全国性研究预测的 MS 患病率为 40.40/100,000 人口，根据 Kurtzke 分类，王国已处于低风险区域。在沙特国民中的患病率估计要高得多（61.95/100,000 沙特国民）。患病率在女性、年轻和受教育程度较高的人群中较高。需要进一步研究来评估与沙特阿拉伯患病率增加相关的风险因素。
