Latitude is significantly associated with the prevalence of multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: There is a striking latitudinal gradient in multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence, but exceptions in Mediterranean Europe and northern Scandinavia, and some systematic reviews, have suggested that the gradient may be an artefact. The authors sought to evaluate the association between MS prevalence and latitude by meta-regression. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Studies were sourced from online databases, reference mining and author referral. Prevalence estimates were age-standardised to the 2009 European population. Analyses were carried out by means of random-effects meta-regression, weighted with the inverse of within-study variance. The authors included 650 prevalence estimates from 321 peer-reviewed…

• KP
  Kaiser Permanente
• GU
  Georgetown University
• UO
  University of Cambridge
• CU
  Cardiff University
• UD
  Università di Catania
• UI
  Universitetet i Bergen
• HU
  Hokkaido University
• SU
  Syddansk Universitet
• CC
  Changhua Christian Hospital
• HU
  Haukeland Universitetssjukehus
• CF
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• NH
  National Health and Medical Research Council