ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology
Burden of Comorbidities in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Population-Based Study in Catalonia
Provisionally accepted
- Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
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Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often present with chronic comorbidities that complicate care and affect prognosis. Population-based evidence in Europe is limited. Objective: To describe the prevalence of selected comorbidities among individuals with MS in Catalonia, Spain, using administrative health records. Methods: We analysed data from 9,998 people diagnosed with MS (2013–2017), including demographic and diagnostic information across all care levels. Prevalence estimates for 23 comorbidities were stratified by age and sex, and, where available, compared with those of the general population. Results: The MS population had a higher prevalence of psychiatric, metabolic, and autoimmune comorbidities in all age groups. Young women (18–40 years) showed increased rates of depression, anxiety, thyroid disease, and migraine, while middle-aged men (50–60 years) had higher rates of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and diabetes. Conclusion: MS is associated with a substantial, early-onset comorbidity burden, underscoring the need for integrated, multidisciplinary care across the life course.
Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis, Comorbidity, population-based studies, Administrative data, Epidemiology, Sex Characteristics
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mora. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Toni Mora, tmora@uic.es
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