TOPLINE:

Healthcare use was elevated much earlier than previously recognized among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in new research. Physician visits for “ill-defined symptoms and signs” increased from 15 years before MS symptom onset and mental health-related and psychiatry visits increased 14 years and 12 years before, respectively. However, nervous system-related and neurology visits increased significantly only 4 years and 8 years before the onset of MS symptoms.

METHODOLOGY:

The cohort study included more than 2000 patients with MS (mean age at symptom onset, 38 years; 74% women) with a known date of MS symptom onset. Data were obtained from the British Columbia MS clinical database (1991-2018).

Each patient with MS was matched by sex, birth year, socioeconomic status, and po

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