About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides information from the Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register (SMSR) on all patients with a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) from January 2010 to December 2022.

Main points

  • In 2022, 491 new patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MS were added to the SMSR. This brings the total number of patients newly diagnosed and reported over the 13-year period to 6,359.
Image caption Percentage of patients with a new diagnosis of MS contacted by a MS specialist nurse within 10 working days of confirmed diagnosis
  • In line with previous findings, the annual incidence shows over twice as many females than males were diagnosed with MS.
  • The proportion of newly diagnosed patients receiving contact with a MS specialist nurse within 10 working days of diagnosis decreased from 88% in 2021 to 87% in 2022.

Background

The Scottish MS Register is a national register within the Scottish National Audit Programme at Public Health Scotland. The aim of the SMSR is to improve healthcare for people living with MS in Scotland. Establishing the incidence and interpreting the implications of its demography allows us to facilitate service evaluation and drive health improvement. The data on which this report is produced are provided by neurologists and MS clinical teams via a research electronic data collection system (REDCap) which incorporates the patient journey from referral to diagnosis, including referral to an MS specialist nurse.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be July 2024.

General enquiries

If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact Stephen Marjoribanks at phs.scottishmsregister@phs.scot.

Media enquiries

If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.

Requesting other formats and reporting issues

If you require publications or documents in other formats, please email phs.otherformats@phs.scot.

To report any issues with a publication, please email phs.generalpublications@phs.scot.

Older versions of this publication

Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.

Last updated: 21 March 2024
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