Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34533590›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology2022

Increased risk of death from COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis: a pooled analysis of observational studies.

Luca Prosperini, Carla Tortorella, Shalom Haggiag, Serena Ruggieri, Simonetta Galgani, Claudio Gasperini

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Luca ProsperiniDepartment of Neurology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, C.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152, Rome, Italy. luca.prosperini@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3237-6267
Carla TortorellaDepartment of Neurology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, C.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152, Rome, Italy.
Shalom HaggiagDepartment of Neurology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, C.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152, Rome, Italy.
Serena RuggieriDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185, Rome, Italy.
Simonetta GalganiDepartment of Neurology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, C.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152, Rome, Italy.
Claudio GasperiniDepartment of Neurology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, C.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152, Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo estimate whether the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exceeds that of the general population.

methodsWe conducted a pooled analysis of cohort studies on COVID-19 in patients with MS published until July 31, 2021. We calculated the pooled crude death rate (CDR) and estimated the indirectly-adjusted age-standardized lethality ratio (SLR) to assess the risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS as compared to general population.

resultsOut of 520 articles, 18 fulfilled criteria for pooled analysis, with a total of 5634 patients (28.6% males, mean age 41.8 years). Of them, 111 died, yielding a CDR of 1.97% (95% confidence intervals [CIs] 1.61-2.33). The estimated SLR was 1.24 (95% CIs 1.01-1.48) after indirect age-standardization using case-fatality rates obtained from the detailed surveillance data available at the World Health Organization (WHO) website. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and the analysis of temporal trends of SLR from March 2020 to July 2021 provided consistent findings.

conclusionsOur pooled analysis suggests a 24%-increased risk of death from COVID-19 in patients with MS. These findings must be interpreted with caution, mainly because of the difficulties in COVID-19 case detection (especially in the first pandemic wave) and heterogeneity of the analyzed cohorts. Confirmation in larger population-based studies is warranted.

Indexed as

COVID-19Multiple SclerosisAdultCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMalePandemicsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19Multiple sclerosisSARS-COV-2

Identifiers

PMID34533590
PMCPMC8446478

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.