Research Article

Linkage of Multiple Sclerosis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome: A Population-Based Survey in Isfahan, Iran

Table 2

Frequency of MS in the general population and in two estimated GBS populations; the comparison of two frequencies via statistics.

Total comparisonBy female sex comparisonBy male sex comparison
Lower worldwide incidenceUpper worldwide incidenceLower worldwide incidenceUpper worldwide incidenceLower worldwide incidenceUpper worldwide incidence

GBS incidence rate (per 100,000)1.11.81.11.81.11.8
Frequency of MS in estimated GBS patients between 1989 and 2006*6/7986/13055/3195/5221/4791/783
MS in general population**3522/48044582718/2343459804/2460999
P value<0.0001<0.0001<0.0001<0.00010.380.63
41.2521.5646.0725.030.750.23
OR (95% CI)10.33 (4.18–23.81)6.3 (2.55–14.5)13.71 (5.01–34.33)8.33 (3.05–20.78)

MS: Multiple sclerosis, GBS: Guillain-Barre' Syndrome, OR: odds Ratio, CI: confidence interval.
*The population in each year within this period are as follows (count (year)): 3511631 (1989), 3589238 (1990), 3682444 (1991), 3718789 (1992), 3768620 (1993), 3819119 (1994), 3870295 (1995), 3923255 (1996), 3982496 (1997), 4042631 (1998), 4103674 (1999), 4165639 (2000), 4228540 (2001), 4292390 (2002), 4357205 (2003), 4422998 (2004), 4489785 (2005), 4559256 (2006). (Source: Iranian Central Bureau of statistics).
**The epidemiologic data of MS in Isfahan (i.e. prevalence and sex ratio) was extracted from our recent works [5].