Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in Republic of Moldova in the year of COVID-19

Background and aims: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune, inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system and the most common nontraumatic disabling neurological disease in young adults. In the latest decades, multiple sclerosis is increasing worldwide, especially in women. The objective of our neuroepidemiologic study was to review the incidence and sex ratio of multiple sclerosis in Republic of Moldova during 2020, in the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to verify if the worldwide crisis had an impact on the access to medical services for newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: Patients with ICD-10 code G35 were identified from the tertiary hospitals administrative data. Patient records were reviewed to include only cases with a definitive diagnosis according to the 2017 McDonald criteria. Incidence period covered one year, from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. Results: During the incidence period, 75 new MS diagnoses were made. The annual age-standardized incidence was 3.6/100 000 person-years (95% CI 3.2-3.9) in the agegroup over 18 years old. The female to male ratio was 1.9:1, with the mean age 37,0 years (±1 year). Conclusion: According to the country's estimates, the Republic of Moldova has an overall similar MS incidence rate as Central and Eastern Europe. Despite the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it did not impact the access to multiple sclerosis services for newly diagnosed patients.