Multiple Sclerosis Prevalence Updates

Based on research published in Neurology, the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is similar in Black people and white people, whereas prevalence is lower in people from the Asian and Hispanic communities. Prevalence among these groups was calculated based on data from 2.6 million individual members of the Kaiser Permanente Health Network in Southern California with extrapolation to the 2010 US Census population. 

MS prevalence was 226 per 100,000 Black people and 238 per 100,000 white people. Among those with Hispanic ancestry, prevalence was 70 per 100,000 and with Asian ancestry, 23 per 100,000. Across all groups, women comprised the majority of people with MS. Among Black people with MS, 82% were women. In those with Asian ancestry women comprise 84% of MS cases. In white and Hispanic people, 76% and 75% of cases, respectively, were in women. 

“MS has long been believed to be a disease of white people, but the prevalence of MS in Black people has been understudied and therefore underrecognized,” said study author Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Los Angeles and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “The findings of our study and other recent studies indicate that MS has affected Black and white adults at similar rates for decades.”
 
Langer-Gould said, “The belief that MS is rare in Black people has been based on a history of problematic evidence, including a 1950s study of veterans that found white men more likely than Black men to receive services through the Veterans Administration for MS. That study did not consider the barriers and disparities Black men faced in receiving services, and that they were less likely to be measured accurately.”

“More studies are needed to determine whether MS is also an emerging disease among Hispanic people in the US and whether MS susceptibility and prevalence vary among Hispanic or Asian individuals from different cultures and ancestral backgrounds,” Langer-Gould added. “Larger studies are also needed that look at bigger populations across the US.”