ArticleJournal of neurology2017
Seasonal variation in multiple sclerosis relapse.
Article in Journal of neurology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Seasonal and monthly variation in multiple sclerosis relapses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2022Pooled it
- Lifetime exposure to shift work and risk of multiple sclerosis: retrospective and prospective cohort studies in UK Biobank.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Polish Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the METEO-Q in Healthy, Cardiac, and Psychiatric Samples.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Characteristics of Disease Relapses and Their Relationships with Weather Conditions in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Meningoencephalitis of unknown origin in dogs under veterinary referral care in England (2017-2021): a multicenter case control study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Epidemiology and natural history of POLG disease in Norway: a nationwide cohort study.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Antibody-positive autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic neurological syndrome: A Swedish case series.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Article
- Presentations to eye emergency departments with flashes and floaters differ dependent on incident solar radiation.Irish journal of medical science · 2023Review
- Frequency and Predictors of Relapses following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: Interim Results from a Longitudinal Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Seasonal Changes in Serum Metabolites in Multiple Sclerosis Relapse.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Effect of Seasonal Variation on Relapse Rate in Patients With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Seasonal and daytime variation in multiple immune parameters in humans: Evidence from 329,261 participants of the UK Biobank cohort.iScience · 2021Article
- Drivers of Infectious Disease Seasonality: Potential Implications for COVID-19.Journal of biological rhythms · 2021Review
- Case Report: Multiple Sclerosis Relapses After Vaccination Against SARS-CoV2: A Series of Clinical Cases.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Circadian rhythms in adaptive immunity.Immunology · 2020Review
- Seasonal Variations in Macrophages/Microglia Underlie Changes in the Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis Severity.Molecular neurobiology · 2020Article
- Relapse Patterns in NMOSD: Evidence for Earlier Occurrence of Optic Neuritis and Possible Seasonal Variation.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- Environmental and genetic risk factors for MS: an integrated review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2019Review
- The Interaction between Viral and Environmental Risk Factors in the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Relapses are a characteristic clinical feature of multiple sclerosis (MS), but an appreciation of factors that cause them remains elusive. In this study, we have examined seasonal variation of relapse in a large population-based MS cohort and correlated observed patterns with age, sex, disease course, and climatic factors. Relapse data were recorded prospectively in 2076 patients between 2005 and 2014. 3902 events were recorded in 1158 patients (range 0-24). There was significant seasonal variation in relapse rates (p < 0.0001) and this was associated with monthly hours of sunshine (odds ratio OR 1.08, p = 0.02). Relapse rates were highest in patients under the age of 30 (OR 1.42, p = 0.0005) and decreased with age. There was no evidence of different relapse rates for males compared to females (OR 0.90, p = 0.19). Identification of potentially modifiable environmental factors associated with temporal variation in relapse rates may allow alteration of risk on a population basis and alteration of outcome of established disease once established. Future epidemiological studies should examine dynamic environmental factors with serial prospective measurements and biological sampling. Significant seasonal differences in relapse rates highlight the importance of environmental factors in disease expression and should be taken into account when planning clinical trials in which relapse frequency is an outcome. In addition, identification of potentially modifiable factors associated with this variation may offer unique opportunities for alteration of risk of relapse and long-term outcome on a population level, and suggest putative biological mechanisms for relapse initiation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.