Epidemiology of demyelinating diseases in Mexico: A registry-based study.

Background: Demyelinating diseases (DD) are a group of chronic neurological diseases associated with loss and injury of brain or spinal cord regions. These conditions could trigger impairment of neurological functions and disability from earlier stages of life. Epidemiological data on DD remains insufficient for decision-making in the Mexican healthcare system. This study aims to describe the epidemiology of DD based on data from Mexico's National Registry of Demyelinating Diseases.
Methods: A cross-sectional, registry-based, observational study was performed. We analyzed 408 reports of multiple sclerosis (331, 81%), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (67, 16%), chronic recurrent inflammatory optic neuropathy (5, 1%), clinically isolated syndrome (4, 0.9%), and autoimmune encephalitis (1, 0.2%) reported across 2021.
Results: The time from first symptoms to diagnosis of any DD was about 3 years. A treatment failure history was detected in 40% of patients. It was estimated that NMOSD accounts for 20% of all disorders. There was evidence that the use of brand-name and generic IFN drug products lead to increased therapeutic failures.
Conclusion: Our research team suggests reinforcing educational programs and activities based on diagnosis and clinical management improvement to first-contact physicians and specialty doctors and promoting awareness in the whole population.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All authors wish to declare that have nothing to disclose. There are no competing interest(s) or conflict of interest that may be perceived to influence the results and discussion reported in this paper. All authors or their institutions did not receive payment or services from a third party (government, commercial, or private foundation) for any aspect of the submitted work at any time. The funding for the writing and editing process was carried out and supported by Unidad de Investigación en Salud (UIS). Each author filled and signed an electronic ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and was responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the submitted information. If editors need to confirm this asseveration, the corresponding author may share this information separately. This document was designed to improve delivering of this information since all electronic ICMJE forms have the statement as “nothing to disclose”.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)