Sociodemographic Factors in the Epidemiology of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis continues to be one of the most baffling and destructive diseases of our time, disabling a multitude of people around the globe. For researchers in various disciplines who are concerned with readily locating published data that are relevant to the sociodemographic factors in the epidemiology of MS, this volume makes accessible subject topics that focus on the demographic, sociocultural, and methodological correlates of the disease. Compiler George W. Lowis has gathered four decades of published research findings into this unique and useful volume. He provides summaries of 213 projects grouped according to whether they could possibly be implicated, either positively or negatively, as determinants of MS prevalence or incidence. Summaries of 192 projects look at 11 different demographic and sociocultural correlates of MS such as diet, ethnicity, urban-rural residence, and more. An additional 21 projects focus on the methodology or case ascertainment used. The majority of sample projects were abstracted from medical literature published in journals and books since 1960. Each project has been edited and presented in such a way that the author's purpose for conducting the research is made explicit, as are the main findings and conclusion.

Divided into two parts, the volume first zeroes in on the sociodemographic projects. Included in the eleven chapters of this section are the demographic factors that may be implicated in MS such as age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, place of birth or residence, and population migration. Etiological factors in the sociocultural part of the environment include such variables as the types of social relationships and patterns of living that characterize people of different sexes, ages, races, and social classes and the ideas, values, and norms possessed and used by people in matters such as diet and nutrition, sanitation, and pet ownership. The second section reviews methodologic projects from the point of view of data collection and case ascertainment techniques used. Each of the 213 projects contains five sets of research information: a discussion of the purpose and occasionally the locale of the study; data relevant to the population studied; a report on the findings of the project; a brief concluding summary; and finally, an overview of other factors positively or negatively implicated. As the only book that approaches the epidemiology of MS with this focus, this annotated bibliography will be a tool of inestimable value to researchers in the fields of medical sociology, epidemiology, social epidemiology, public health, environmental health, and medical anthropology.