{
  "abstract": "Introduction Using an algorithm to identify people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) in routine healthcare data we determined if there was any evidence of MS prodrome within inpatient admissions in Wales in those aged less than 16 (pre-16) and before an MS diagnosis (pre-Dx) was made.Methods We identified the ‘top 10’ ICD-10 codes in the Patient Episode Dataset for Wales (PEDW) inside the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, a national database in Wales of 4.6 million people, for hospital admissions in pwMS and controls propensity matched by gender and year of birth. We identified unique MS entries, excluding MS/demyelinating codes, and assessed whether entries common to both groups were significantly different.Results Of 313 pre-16 and 5,309 pwMS pre-Dx higher rates of admissions were found. Pre-16 admissions unique to MS included constipation (4.8%) and dental caries (3.5%), there was no difference in the 6/10 ICD-10 codes shared between pwMS/MS-Control cohorts. Pre-Dx sensory symptoms (4.3%), paraesthesia (3.8%), headaches (3.7%) and urinary tract infections (3.6%) were unique to the MS cohort with the remainder 4/10 not being different shared between pwMS/MS-Control cohorts.Conclusion pwMS have significantly higher hospital admissions in certain comorbidities pre-16 and pre-Dx implying early health problems in pwMS.r.m.middleton@swansea.ac.uk",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University, Disease Registers Group"
      ],
      "name": "Witts James"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University, Disease Registers Group"
      ],
      "name": "Middleton Rodden"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University, Disease Registers Group",
        "Department of Brain Sciences – Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London"
      ],
      "name": "Nicholas Richard"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Various"
      ],
      "name": "Research Group UKMS Register"
    }
  ],
  "title": "121 Increased hospital admissions in Wales prior to MS diagnosis: a SAIL databank study",
  "uid": "784254a1-e09d-56ce-932c-b42e78c09386"
}