COVID-19 and multiple sclerosis: An updated report of the community-based longitudinal UK MS Register study

Abstract

COVID-19 is a concern in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), mostly because of their long-term physical disabilities and immunomodulatory disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). In this community-based pro- spective longitudinal study, we have been monitoring a cohort of people with MS via the web-based platform of the UK MS Register since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. We report our findings from 17/03/2020 to 15/01/2021.Out of 7344 participants, 883 (12%) have reported a self-diagnosis of COVID-19 of whom 211 had a confirmed clinical or laboratory-based (n=114) diagnosis. No individual DMT increased the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 (with any of the diagnoses as the outcome). Gender (male: female, adjusted OR: 95% CI [0.94: 0.68–1.3]), web-based Expanded Disability Status Scale score (webEDSS; one-point increase, 0.92: 0.84–1.01), and MS duration (one-year increase, 1: 0.98–1.02) were not associated with contracting COVID-19. Younger age (one-year decrease, 1.04: 1.03–1.06), ethnicities other than white (1.95: 1.13–3.34), and relapsing-remitting MS (versus progressive, 1.72: 2.56–1.16) increased the likelihood of contracting COVID-19. Within a median (interquartile range) of 26 (0–72) days follow-up of participants with COVID-19 (n=532), 69% reported full recovery. A higher webEDSS (one-point increase, 0.84: 0.74–0.96) lowered the likelihood of full recovery. Overall, MS-specific factors do not predispose people with MS to contracting COVID-19, but physical disability can delay recovery.