Estimating the prevalence of multiple sclerosis using 56.6 million electronic health records from the United States

Abstract

Background/objective: In 2019, the 2010 U.S. multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence was robustly estimated (265.1–309.2/100,000) based on large administrative health-claims datasets. Using 56.6 million electronic health records (EHRs), we sought to generate complementary age, sex, and race standardized estimates. Methods/results: Using de-identified EHRs and 2018 U.S. Census data, we estimated an age- and sex-standardized MS prevalence of 219.5/100,000 which increased to 274.5/100,000 when accounting for White and Black race alone. Women aged 50 to 69 years had the highest prevalence (>600/100,000). Among White and Black Americans, the age- and sex-standardized prevalence was 283.7 and 226.1 per 100,000, respectively. Conclusion: Using 56.6 million EHRs and standardizing for age, sex, and race (White and Black Americans only), we estimated at least 810,504 Americans were living with MS in 2018.