Significant Increase in the Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis in Iran in 2011

Dear Editor, Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and usually affects young women. It is the second most common cause of neurological disability in young adults after trauma. 1,2 Previously, Iran was considered a low prevalence area, but recent investigations have shown that the prevalence of MS in Iran has increased significantly. 3 This increasing pattern in the rate of MS may have several causes; however, changes in lifestyle and new and advanced diagnostic methods are regarded as the most important causes. Unfortunately, Iran does not have a national registry for patients with MS. Nevertheless, there is a national computerized registration system which holds the information of every patient with MS in the country that has registered and receives beta interferon medication from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME). The Iranian government covers a considerable percentage of the treatment costs for patients with MS receiving beta interferon according to this registry. Although studying the data on this group of patients does not yield precise and comprehensive information on all patients with MS in Iran, even an evaluation of these data demonstrates that the prevalence rate has increased significantly. Our study was conducted based on the data derived from the latest report of Iran's MOHME about the patients who registered to receive beta interferon in Iran. We collected data from the MS Registry Database of the different provinces of Iran which had been sent to the MOHME by the end of year 2011. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 under the supervision of an expert epidemiologist. In December 2011, the Iranian MOHME Registry listed 34,605 MS patients in Iran. Seventy-seven percent of whom were women. Given that Iran's population in 2011 was 75,600,000, the prevalence rate of MS was calculated as 45/100,000 of population. 4 Seventy percent of these patients were between 20-40 years of age. The maximum prevalence rate (80 per 100,000 population) was seen in Isfahan province, located in the central part of Iran. The minimum prevalence rate (6 per 100,000 population) was seen in Sistan-Baluchestan province, located in the southeast part of Iran. This province has a warm and dry climate. Ten years ago, Kalanie et al. 5 reported 200 patients with a definite diagnosis of MS in Iran. In 2005, Etemadifar et al. 3 reported a prevalence rate of 35.5 …