Increased prevalence of multiple sclerosis and clusters of different disease risk in Northern Italy.

Background: The increasing multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence is varying across the macroscopic regional areas. Only few studies have explored the microscopic geographic variation of MS prevalence, which could highlight MS spatial clusters.

Objective: In this ecological study, we aimed to estimate 2016 MS prevalence in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy) and to describe MS risk geographical variation across small area units, compared to the year 2000.