Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Pregnancies have an impact on the disease course of multiple sclerosis (MS), but their relationship with MS risk is yet unclear.Objective
To determine the relationships of pregnancies and gynecological diagnoses with MS risk.Methods
In this retrospective case-control study, we assessed differences in gynecological International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) code recording rates between women with MS (n = 5720), Crohn's disease (n = 6280), or psoriasis (n = 40,555) and women without these autoimmune diseases (n = 26,729) in the 5 years before diagnosis.Results
Twenty-eight ICD-10 codes were recorded less frequently for women with MS as compared to women without autoimmune disease, 18 of which are pregnancy-related. After adjustment for pregnancies, all codes unrelated to pregnancies were still negatively associated with MS. In a sensitivity analysis excluding women with evidence for possible demyelinating events before diagnosis, all associations were more pronounced. In comparison to women with psoriasis, most associations could be confirmed; that was not true in comparison to women with Crohn's disease.Conclusion
Our findings provide evidence for a possible protective effect of pregnancies on MS risk likely independent of or in addition to a previously suggested reversed causality. The negative associations of gynecological disorders with disease risk need further investigation. The associations might be shared by different autoimmune diseases.
SUBMITTER: Gasperi C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9315178 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Gasperi Christiane C Hapfelmeier Alexander A Schneider Antonius A Kuhn Klaus A KA Donnachie Ewan E Hemmer Bernhard B
Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) 20220318 10
<h4>Background</h4>Pregnancies have an impact on the disease course of multiple sclerosis (MS), but their relationship with MS risk is yet unclear.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the relationships of pregnancies and gynecological diagnoses with MS risk.<h4>Methods</h4>In this retrospective case-control study, we assessed differences in gynecological International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) code recording rates between women with MS (<i>n</i> = 5720), Crohn's disease (<i>n< ...[more]