Table 1: Sex and age distribution of the two studied groups &endash; patients with MS and Other Neurological Diseases.

Survey Demographics

MS

OND

Age

Males

Females

Males

Females

<14

0

0

1

1

15-24

1

4

11

21

25-34

12

43

32

45

35-44

27

147

39

70

45-54

74

137

62

48

55-64

32

79

45

52

65-74

20

41

53

48

>75

5

12

51

37

TOTAL

171

462

294

322

mean +/- sd

51.3+/-11.5

48.1+/-12.1

55.2+/-17.6

50.6+/-17.9

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Table 2: Comparison of the rates of herpes zoster (HZ) in a group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a practice-based survey without reference to any other disease, and a group of patients with other neurological diseases.

Comparison of Rates of Herpes Zoster in Four Groups

Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Practice-based Survey 8

Other Neurological Diseases

Positive history HZ
N72/633 = 11.4%

N192/3534 = 5.4%
*(Compared to MS patients positive HZ history only)

N42/616 = 6.8%
**(Compared to MS patients positive HZ history only)

Positive & Probable
History of HZ
N106/633 = 16.8%

*

p < 0.0001 Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval = 2.23 (1.68, 2.97)

p = 0.005 Odds Ratio (95% Confidence Interval = 1.75 (1.18, 2.61)

**

p = 0.0001 Odds Ratio Adjusted for Age and Sex (95% Confidence Interval) = 2.610 (1.79, 3.80)

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Table 3A: Number of multiple sclerosis patients with herpes zoster and age of onset of herpes zoster in this study (observed) compared to the number from a population-based study9 (expected). Numbers in parentheses are patients with herpes zoster prior to the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. *The total observed number, 68, is less than the actual number, 72, as four patients omitted their ages at the time of the herpes zoster.

Multiple Sclerosis Patients Observed to have Herpes Zoster Versus the Expected Number

Males

Females

Age

Expected1

Observed

Chi-Sq

Expected1

Observed

Chi-Sq

<14

1.45

4(4)2

4.48

2.98

3(3)2

0.00

15-24

1.06

3(3)

3.55

3.92

7(6)

2.42

25-34

1.75

4(3)

2.89

3.85

12(3)

17.25

35-44

1.73

2(1)

0.04

2.34

11(4)

32.05

45-54

1.60

5(1)

7.22

4.15

4(1)

0.00

55-64

1.00

2(0)

1.00

2.08

4(0)

1.77

65-74

0.41

2(0)

6.17

1.07

4(0)

8.02

>75

0.04

0(0)

0.04

0.10

1(0)

8.10

TOTAL

9.04

22(12)

25.393

20.49

46(17)

69.614

1Expected values based on Ragozzino et al.9
2Numbers in brackets are observed herpes zoster prior to MS diagnosis.
3Male total series p = 0.00065 (x2, 7 degrees of freedom).
4Female total series p = < 0.000001 (x2, 7 degrees of freedom).

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Table 3B: The proportion of multiple sclerosis patients in this study (N 633) related to their sex and age of onset of herpes zoster compared to control patients (N 616).

Age of Onset of Herpes Zoster in a Group of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Other Neurological Diseases

MS

OND

Age

Males

Females

Males

Females

<14

2.3%

0.9%

0.3%

0.0%

15-24

1.8

1.5

0.3

0.6

25-34

2.4

2.8

0.7

1.0

35-44

1.9

3.2

1.6

1.2

45-54

3.0

1.9

1.9

1.6

55-64

1.8

3.8

4.0

2.9

65-74

8.0

7.5

1.9

4.7

>75

0.0

8.3

0.0

8.1

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