Multiple sclerosis in Peru: National prevalence study using capture-recapture analysis.

Background: There is scarce epidemiological data on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Latin America. National epidemiological studies are needed to guide the health policy related to MS.

Objective: To determine MS national prevalence in Peru and describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the disease.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional prevalence study in Peru's four largest regions using two sources. We included adult patients diagnosed with MS by a neurologist using the McDonald criteria. We performed a capture-recapture analysis using the nearly unbiased estimator model, and calculated prevalence as the proportion of the adult Peruvian population in 2016. Additionally, we summarized patients epidemiological and clinical characteristics.

Results: We identified 417 cases: 135 from the first source and 282 from the one. We found a point prevalence of 9.12 cases per 100 000 inhabitants (95% CI: 5.6 - 12.6). The age range was 35 to 45 years-old, and 51.9% were female. The most common type of MS was relapsing-remitting (79.3%) and the most frequent treatment was subcutaneous IFN-1b (40.7%).

Conclusion: Peru has a medium MS prevalence compared to other Latin American countries. Lima is the region with the highest number of cases, with similar clinical characteristics to other countries in the region.