Is There an Association Between Multiple Sclerosis Epidemic and Socioeconomic Status in Iran? - A Descriptive-analytical Cross-sectional Study

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a key neurogenic cause of disability among young populations. Assessing the parameters affecting MS severity is vital to reduce the disease burden. the objective of this study is to determine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and MS severity among Iranian young adults.Methods: A descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted by 180 patients (142 females and 38 males) with MS selected by a non-probability and consecutive sampling was conducted during September 2018-2019. The socio-demographic and primary clinical data were collected by a self-developed questionnaire and face-to-face interviews, respectively. The expanded disability status scale (EDSS) was used to assess the physical disability degree and the overall neurological function of patients.Results: The mean age of patients and MS onset was 27.54 and 35.58 years, respectively. The majority of patients were married (68.3%) while were living in cities (74.4%). The mean values of unemployment, homeownership, and monthly income were determined to be 54.4%, 71.7%, and 11,078,330 IRR, respectively. The mean EDSS was 2.80±1.79 points. A weak positive correlation between EDSS and patients' age (P = 0.001, r = 0.246) and number of children (P = 0.001, r = 0.250) was found. There was no significant difference between EDSS and SES factors (i.e., disease onset age, treatment cost, and monthly income).Conclusions: As SES was not related to the MS severity, there is no need to take special treatment measures in patients with poor SES.