Increase Seen in Physician Visits ~15 Years Before MS Onset

THURSDAY, Aug. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Health care use is increased years before onset of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published online Aug. 1 in JAMA Network Open.

Marta Ruiz-Algueró, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia and the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues examined health care use 25 years before MS symptom onset in a matched cohort study using linked clinical and administrative data.

Data were included for 2,038 patients with MS and 10,182 matched individuals. The researchers found that for patients with MS, all-cause physician visit rate ratios (RRs) were consistently elevated from 14 years before onset (adjusted RR [aRR], 1.19), peaking the year before MS onset (aRR, 1.28). For ill-defined symptoms and signs, the RRs were consistently elevated 15 years before onset, exceeding 1.15 and peaking at 1.37 the year before onset. Mental health-related RRs were significant from 14 years before onset (excluding years 7, 5, and 4), with RRs ranging from 1.30 to 1.38 in the three years before onset of MS. By physician specialty, RRs for general practice visits were significantly elevated in each of the 15 years before MS onset, reaching 1.23 in the year before onset; psychiatry visit RRs were elevated 12 years before onset; and neurology and ophthalmology RRs were significantly elevated up to eight to nine years before MS onset.

“By identifying these earlier red flags, we may eventually be able to intervene sooner — whether that”s through monitoring, support, or preventive strategies,” senior author Helen Tremlett, Ph.D., also from the University of British Columbia, said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text