Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39812835›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology2025

Marriage is associated with decreased lesion volumes and less brain atrophy in people with multiple sclerosis.

Alexandra Balshi, John Dempsey, Sachin Kumbar, Grace Leunberger, Ursela Baber, Jacob A Sloane

Erratum issuedAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Alexandra BalshiDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. alexandra_balshi@hms.harvard.edu.
John DempseyDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Sachin KumbarDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Grace LeunbergerDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ursela BaberDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jacob A SloaneDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0028-3031

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMarried or long-term partnered patients with chronic diseases generally have better outcomes than unmarried patients, likely due to the potential for multifaceted support. However, the impact of marital status on multiple sclerosis (MS) radiographic disease burden is currently unknown.

objectiveTo compare total white matter hyperintensity lesion volumes, periventricular lesion volumes, and whole brain and grey matter volumes in married and unmarried people with MS (PwMS).

methodsWe utilized multivariable linear regression to assess for differences in brain atrophy and lesion volumes between these two groups controlling for sex, MS disease duration in years, hypertension, history of smoking, alcohol consumption, history of depression and/or anxiety, and medication possession ratio (MPR).

resultsMarried PwMS had significantly lower total lesion volumes (β =  - 6.3, 95% CI - 12.1 to - 0.5, p = 0.033), lower PV lesion volumes (β =  - 6.1, 95% CI - 11.7 to - 0.6, p = 0.030), higher normalized whole brain volumes (β = 38.3, 95% CI 6.0 to 70.7, p = 0.021), and higher normalized grey matter volumes (β = 20.9, 95% CI - 0.7 to 42.6, p = 0.058) than unmarried PwMS.

conclusionBeing married may be associated with improved MS outcomes as evidenced by decreased radiographic MS disease burden.

Indexed as

BrainMarital StatusMarriageMultiple SclerosisAdultAtrophyFemaleGray MatterHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedWhite MatterMarriageMRIMultiple sclerosis

Identifiers

PMID39812835

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.