Multiple Sclerosis: primary care data

Practice Team Information (PTI)

Up to 2012/13 data on consultations in Scotland were available from the Public Health Scotland (previously Information Services Division) Practice Team Information programme. PTI estimates were based on a sample of practices which were broadly representative of the Scottish population, but the number of participating practices was too small to provide estimates below this level.

Data on the proportion of practice populations who consulted their GP or practice nurse for multiple sclerosis (MS) at least once during the year for the financial years 2003/04 to 2012/13 may be found in the archived data here. For these figures patients were only counted if the main reason for the consultation was multiple sclerosis. Many people with MS do not consult their GP because of their condition during a particular year, particularly if they are in remission. As a result, while these figures are a reasonable estimate of the number of people consulting their GP for multiple sclerosis during this period, they underestimate the total numbers of people with multiple sclerosis. The figure of 7,010 people consulting at least once for MS in Scotland in 2012/13 should be compared with survey based estimates of around 10,000 people with MS in Scotland. The prevalence of consultation is much higher for women, as expected from surveys elsewhere.

After 2006/07 reliable data on consultations with district nurses and health visitors were not available to PTI. Chart 1 shows that while there was little change between 2004/05 and 2012/13 in the number of consultations with GPs and practice nurses, the majority of consultations prior to 2006/07 were with district nurses, so that GP and practice nurse consultation rates probably do not reflect the total consultation rates.

The Scottish Primary Care Information Resource (SPIRE) was a new national GP information system opened in 2018 that superseded the data collected for Practice Team Information. SPIRE aimed to include richer data from a greater number of practices, however, the data collection was decommissioned in 2023. It is being replaced by a new primary care data extraction tool which is being developed in partnership with Public Health Scotland, National Services Scotland, and the Scottish Government.

Chart 2 shows the consultation rate in Scotland for multiple sclerosis by age and gender and illustrates the higher consultation rates for women and for younger people.