Objective: To estimate whether the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exceeds that of the general population. Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of cohort studies on COVID-19 in patients with MS published until July 31, 2021. We calculated the pooled crude death rate (CDR) and estimated the indirectly-adjusted age-standardized lethality ratio (SLR) to assess the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS as compared to general population. Results: Out of 520 articles, 18 fulfilled criteria for pooled analysis, with a total of 5634 patients (28.6% males, mean age 41.8 years). Of them, 111 died, yielding a CDR of 1.97% (95% confidence intervals [CIs] 1.61–2.33). The estimated SLR was 1.24 (95% CIs 1.01–1.48) after indirect age-standardization using case-fatality rates obtained from the detailed surveillance data available at the World Health Organization (WHO) website. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and the analysis of temporal trends of SLR from March 2020 to July 2021 provided consistent findings. Conclusions: Our pooled analysis suggests a 24%-increased risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS. These findings must be interpreted with caution, mainly because of the difficulties in COVID-19 case detection (especially in the first pandemic wave) and heterogeneity of the analyzed cohorts. Confirmation in larger population-based studies is warranted.

Increased risk of death from COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis: a pooled analysis of observational studies / Prosperini, L.; Tortorella, C.; Haggiag, S.; Ruggieri, S.; Galgani, S.; Gasperini, C.. - In: JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY. - ISSN 0340-5354. - (2021). [10.1007/s00415-021-10803-3]

Increased risk of death from COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis: a pooled analysis of observational studies

Ruggieri S.;Gasperini C.
2021

Abstract

Objective: To estimate whether the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exceeds that of the general population. Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of cohort studies on COVID-19 in patients with MS published until July 31, 2021. We calculated the pooled crude death rate (CDR) and estimated the indirectly-adjusted age-standardized lethality ratio (SLR) to assess the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS as compared to general population. Results: Out of 520 articles, 18 fulfilled criteria for pooled analysis, with a total of 5634 patients (28.6% males, mean age 41.8 years). Of them, 111 died, yielding a CDR of 1.97% (95% confidence intervals [CIs] 1.61–2.33). The estimated SLR was 1.24 (95% CIs 1.01–1.48) after indirect age-standardization using case-fatality rates obtained from the detailed surveillance data available at the World Health Organization (WHO) website. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and the analysis of temporal trends of SLR from March 2020 to July 2021 provided consistent findings. Conclusions: Our pooled analysis suggests a 24%-increased risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS. These findings must be interpreted with caution, mainly because of the difficulties in COVID-19 case detection (especially in the first pandemic wave) and heterogeneity of the analyzed cohorts. Confirmation in larger population-based studies is warranted.
2021
COVID-19; Multiple sclerosis; SARS-COV-2
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Increased risk of death from COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis: a pooled analysis of observational studies / Prosperini, L.; Tortorella, C.; Haggiag, S.; Ruggieri, S.; Galgani, S.; Gasperini, C.. - In: JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY. - ISSN 0340-5354. - (2021). [10.1007/s00415-021-10803-3]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1572143
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