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The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Oceania, a systematic review, and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Background

Oceania is a continent, covering more than 8 million km2, with a population of more than 44 million people. In different countries landing in Oceania, various prevalence of MS has been reported, so we designed this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled prevalence of MS in Oceania.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. We also searched references of included studies, and conference abstracts. The search was done on January 1, 2023, by two independent researchers. We extracted the name of the first author, country, publication year, prevalence period, number of study participants, total female and male population, disease duration, type of MS, mean duration of the disease, mean age at disease onset, mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and total female and male patients with MS.

Results

A literature search revealed 81,044 records; after deleting duplicates, 38,260 records remained. One hundred and six full texts were evaluated, and finally, seventeen studies remained for systematic review. Most studies were done in Newcastle; eight studies were done in 1961, 8 in 1981, 2 in 1996, and 2 in 2001. In all other years, only one study was done. The pooled prevalence of MS in 1961 in Oceania was estimated as 19.85/100,000 (I2=70.3%, p=0.001). The pooled prevalence of MS in 1981 in Oceania was estimated as 39.07/100,000 (I2 =88%, p=0.001).

Conclusions

The result of this systematic review and meta-analysis shows that the prevalence of MS has increased dramatically during the timespan in Oceania.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abdorreza Naser Moghadasi & Mahdieh Mokhberdezfuli

  2. Department of Immunology, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran

    Narges Ebrahimi

  3. Multiple Sclerosis Research Group (MSRG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran

    Narges Ebrahimi

  4. Medical School, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran

    Elahe Haghparast

  5. Student’s Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Rastkar

  6. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Mahsa Ghajarzadeh

  7. Multiple Sclerosis Research Group (MSRG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mahsa Ghajarzadeh

Authors
  1. Abdorreza Naser Moghadasi
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  2. Narges Ebrahimi
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  6. Mahsa Ghajarzadeh
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Correspondence to Mahsa Ghajarzadeh.

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Moghadasi, .N., Ebrahimi, N., Haghparast, E. et al. The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Oceania, a systematic review, and meta-analysis. Neurol Sci 45, 75–82 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-023-07057-4

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