SynthesisJournal of neurology2020
Season of birth and multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of neurology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations between month/season of birth and health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- The Association Between Season and Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of seasonal factors on brain function: Systematic review and future perspectives.iScience · 2025Article
- The epidemiology, pathology and pathogenesis of MS: Therapeutic implications.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- Pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis: genetic, environmental and random mechanisms.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2024Article
- Investigating the potential link between lunar cycle and multiple sclerosis relapses: a call for further studies.The Libyan journal of medicine · 2023Article
- Environmental Influences on Risk and Disease Course in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis.Seminars in pediatric neurology · 2023Article
- The Role of Microorganisms in the Etiopathogenesis of Demyelinating Diseases.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The increasing prevalence of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases: an urgent call to action for improved understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.Current opinion in immunology · 2023Review
- Multiple sclerosis: Exploring the limits and implications of genetic and environmental susceptibility.PloS one · 2023Article
- Article
- Prediction of Multiple sclerosis disease using machine learning classifiers: a comparative study.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2021Article
- Evaluation of Month of Birth in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders (NMSOD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).Multiple sclerosis international · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Season of birth is considered to be associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) although some findings opposing to this assumption raise doubts about the seasonality pattern in MS births. The present work synthesizes the evidence of previous published studies aiming at examining whether the month of birth is associated with a higher number of MS births. Pubmed and Scopus were systematically searched and a multivariate meta-analysis of case-control studies was conducted. Data of healthy controls births were retrieved from census reports when not included in the studies. For comparisons, October was set as a reference month and autumn (September-October-November) as a reference season. The meta-analysis included studies that provided the number of MS births for each month or season. Twenty-two eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis involving twenty-four different populations and overall 145,672 MS patients and 75,169,550 healthy controls. The multivariate analysis supports that MS births in spring are higher compared to autumn [odds ratio (OR) 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04, 1.24]. Univariate analyses confirm the same for April (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.05, 1.21), March (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00, 1.11) and May (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.00, 1.14). A reduction of MS births was found in November (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 0.99). The month and the season of birth are significantly associated with MS births.
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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.