Announcements

Outcomes and Risk Factors Associated With SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a North American Registry of Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Amber Salter, PhD; Robert J. Fox, MD; Scott D. Newsome, DO; June Halper, MSCN; David K. B. Li, MD; Pamela Kanellis, PhD; Kathleen Costello, MSCN; Bruce Bebo, PhD; Kottil Rammohan, MD; Gary R. Cutter, PhD; Anne H. Cross, MD

Key Points

Question  How do patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have COVID-19 fare and are there patient and disease characteristics associated with worse outcome?

Findings  In this registry-based cross-sectional study of 1626 North American patients with MS and COVID-19 infection, ambulatory disability, both nonambulatory and requiring assistance to walk, was independently associated with increased odds of poor clinical severity levels after adjusting for other risk factors. Other factors including older age, male sex, Black race, cardiovascular comorbidities, and corticosteroid use in the past 2 months were associated with increased odds of increasing clinical severity compared with those not requiring hospitalization or worse.

Meaning  Identification of risk factors can improve the treatment of patients with MS and COVID-19 by alerting clinicians of patients requiring more intense treatment or monitoring.

March 22, 2021