Multiple Sclerosis: data on multiple sclerosis

From January 2010 the Scottish MS register started to collect information about new cases using the McDonald criteria for diagnosis. Further information is also available from annual reports published on the register website. 

Information on the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Scotland is otherwise difficult to obtain from routine sources. Some historic information is available from statistics on primary care consultations collected as part of the Practice Team Information scheme up to 2014/15. Current information is available on hospital admissions from the SMR01 data collection. Some data are also available to make international comparisons.

The natural course of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) means that people may have long periods of remission from the disease during which they may have little or no contact with the health service. This has the effect of making both primary and secondary care statistics an underestimate of the true prevalence and incidence of the disease. Figures for the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis are dependent on the diagnostic criteria used. The older criteria of Allison and Millar (1954) and Poser et al (1983) have been superseded by those of McDonald (2001) and the revised McDonald criteria of 2005 (Polman et al, 2005), updated in 2017 (Thompson 2018) . Use of broader criteria generally lead to higher estimates than stricter criteria.