multiple sclerosis and several demographic characteristics, family history of ms, and month of birth: a case-control study

Background: several factors have been reported as risk factors for multiple sclerosis (ms); however, the main causes of the disease are still unknown. a geographical area with a low ms incidence is ahvaz, iran. objectives: the objective of this study was to evaluate the association of several demographic characteristics, family history, and birth month with ms in ahvaz. patients and methods: this was a case-control study including 155 ms cases and 155 controls matched for age, sex, and residential status. the participants were selected randomly, using a systematic method, from the ms patients referred to the ms society of khuzestan (iran). the data collection tool was a standardized questionnaire designed by the authors to assess demographic characteristics. data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean, frequency, and standard deviation and inferential statistical tests including χ 2 , fisher’s exact test, and logistic regression using spss version 19. results: in both cases and controls, no significant associations were found between arab ethnicity and incidence of ms, marital status and risk of ms in ahvaz, or more than 15-year residency in ahvaz, birth in khuzestan, and month of birth and the risk of ms (p > 0.05). however, there was a marginally significant association between living from birth to age 15 years in ahvaz and ms (p = 0.05). furthermore, there was an association between a family history of ms and the risk of ms in ahvaz (p = 0.02), which was significant in univariate logistic regression (p = 0.006). conclusions: the findings suggested that according to the ecological conditions of ahvaz, a family history of ms may increase the risk of developing ms.