In regard to prevalence surveys of MS in US communities, this article considers the relative merits of case finding through hospitals, physicians, M service organisations, neurology practices, death certificates, chronic care facilities and media announcements and lay referrals. The current value ***c hospitals and non-neurological practitioners for case finding is questionable, given the changes in clinical practice with respect to MS and the da*** collection problems inherent with surveys of physicians. We suggest giving priority to the following case-finding methods: manually reviewing potien*** records of neurology practices, screening patient rolls of local MS service organisations and surveying chronic care facilities. In some US*** communities, these methods may need to be augmented by also surveying internists, general practitioners and family practitioners. ***Capture-recapture methodology offers a way to evaluate the completeness of case ascertainment.
1 Anderson DW, Kalton G. (1990) Case-finding strategies for studying rare chronic diseases. Ital J Appl Stat2: 309–321.
2.
2 Schumacher GA et al. (1965) Problems of experimental trials of therapy in multiple sclerosis: report by the panel on the evaluation of experimental trials of therapy in multiple sclerosis. Ann NY Acad Sci122: 552–568.
3.
3 Rose AS, et al. (1976) Criteria for the clinical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Neurology26 (suppl): 20–22.
4.
4 Poser CM, et al. (1983) New diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines for research protocols, Ann Neural13: 227–231.
5.
5 Paty DW, McFarlin DE, McDonald WI. (1991) Magnetic resonance imaging and laboratory aids in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Ann Neural29: 3–5.
6.
6 Kurland LT, Stazio A, Reed D. (1965) An appraisal of population studies of multiple sclerosis. Ann NY Acad Sci122: 520–541.
7.
7 Kurtzke JF. (1975) A reassessment of the distribution of multiple sclerosis (part one). Acta Neural Scand51: 110–136.
9 Kurtzke JF. (1980) Epidemiologic contributions to multiple sclerosis: an overview. Neurology30 (suppl): 61–79.
10.
10 Warren S. (1991) Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis. In: Anderson DW (ed.). Neuroepidemiology: a Tribute to Bruce Schoenberg.CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, pp 239–264.
11.
11 Hopkins RS, et al. (1991) Multiple sclerosis in Gallon, Ohio: prevalence and results of a case-control study. Neuroepidemiology10: 192–199.
12.
12 Wynn DR, et al. (1990) A reappraisal of the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Neurology40: 780–786.
13.
13 Scarlett Kranz JM, et al. (1983) Multiple sclerosis in Olmsted and Mower Counties, Minnesota. Neuroepidemiology2: 206–218.
14.
14 Percy AK, et al. (1971) Multiple sclerosis in Rochester, Minn: a 60-year appraisal. Arch Neural25: 105–111.
15.
15 Helmick CG, et al. (1989) Multiple sclerosis in Key West, Florida. Am J Epidemiol130: 935–949.
16.
16 Nelson LM, et al. (1986) Higher than expected prevalence of multiple sclerosis in northern Colorado: dependence on methodologic issues. Neuroepidemiology5: 17–28.
17.
17 Hoffman RE, et al. (1981) Increased incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Los Alamos County, New Mexico. Neurology31: 1489–1492.
18.
18 Visscher BR, et al. (1981) Two populations with multiple sclerosis: clinical and demographic characteristics. J Neural225: 237–249.
19.
19 Alter M, et al. (1971) Multiple sclerosis among Orientals and Caucasians in Hawaii. Neurology21: 122–130.
20.
20 Rav R. Balmuth M, Drew FL. (1970) Multiple sclerosis prevalence and mortality in Allegheny County for 1965 and 1966. Am J Public Health60: 2321–2330.
21.
21 Stazio A, Paddison RM, Kurland LT. (1967) Multiple sclerosis in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: follow-up of a previous survey in New Orleans, and comparison between the patient populations in the two communities. J Chronic Dis20: 311–332.
22.
22 Chipman M. (1966) Multiple sclerosis in Houston, Texas, 1954–1959.Acta Neural Scand42 (suppl.): 77–82.
23.
23 Siedler HD, Nicholl W, Kurland LT. (1958) The prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis in Missoula County, Montana. J Lancet78: 358–360.
24.
24 Alter M, et al. (1960) Geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis: a comparison of prevalence in Charleston County, South Carolina, U.S.A., and Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. World Neural1: 55–68.
25.
25 Kurland LT. (1952) The frequency and geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis as indicated by mortality statistics and morbidity surveys in the United States and Canada. Am J Hygiene55: 457–476.
26.
26 Kurland LT, Dodge HJ. (1953) Multiple sclerosis: its frequency and distribution with special reference to Denver, Colorado. Neurology3: 577–585.
27.
27 Kurland LT, Newman HW. (1953) Multiple sclerosis: its frequency and distribution with special reference to San Francisco. California Med79: 381–385.
28.
28 Anderson DW, et al. (1992) Revised estimate of the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the United States. Ann Neural31: 333–336.
29.
29 McCarty DJ, et al. (1993) Ascertainment corrected rates: applications of capture-recapture methods. Int J Epidemiol22: 559–565.
30.
30 Robles SC, et al. (1988) An application of capture-recapture methods to the estimation of completeness of cancer registration. J Clin Epidemiol41: 495–501.
31.
31 Bishop VMM, Fienberg SE, Holland PW. (1975) Discrete Multivariate Analysis: Theory and Practice.MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
32.
32 Hook EB, Regal RR. (1992) The value of capture-recapture methods even for apparent exhaustive surveys: the need for adjustment for source of ascertainment intersection in attempted complete prevalence studies. Am J Epidemiol135: 1060–1067.
33.
33 Laporte RE, et al. (1993) Counting diabetes in the next millennium: application of capture-recapture technology. Diabetes Care16: 528–534.
34.
34 Laporte RE, Tull ES, McCarty D. (1992) Monitoring the incidence of myocardial infarctions: applications of capture-mark-recapture technology. Int J Epidemiol21: 258–262.
35.
35 Laporte RE, et al. (1993) Surveillance of serious recreational injuries: a capture-recapture approach. Med Sci Sports Exerc25: 204–209.
36.
36 Hook EB, Albright SG, Cross PK. (1980) Use of Bernoulli census and log-linear methods for estimating the prevalence of spina bifida in livebirths and the completeness of vital record reports in New York State. Am J Epidemiol112: 750–758.
37.
37 Chapman CJ. (1983) Ethnic differences in the incidence of cleft lip and/or cleft palate in Auckland, 1960–1976. NZ Med J96: 327–329.
38.
38 Cochi SL, et al. (1989) Congenital rubella syndrome in the United States, 1970–1985: on the verge of elimination. Am J Epidemiol129: 349–361.
39.
39 Wittes JT, Colton T, Sidel VW. (1974) Capture-recapture methods for assessing the completeness of case ascertainment when using multiple information sources. J Chronic Dis27: 25–36.
40.
40 Wolter KM. (1986) Some coverage error models for census data. J Am Stat Assoc81: 338–346.
41.
41 Kurland LT, Molgaard CA. (1981) The patient record in epidemiology. Sci Am245: 54–63.
42.
42 Committee on Improving the Patient Record, Institute of Medicine (1991) The Computer-Based Patient Record, Dick RS, Steen EB. (eds) National Academy Press: Washington, DC.
