{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T13:04:57Z","timestamp":1777295097061,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,1]],"date-time":"2021-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1617235200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Multiple Sclerosis Journal - Experimental, Translational and Clinical"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p> Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the leading cause of non-traumatic neurological disability in young adults. There is limited literature regarding the burden of MS in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p> To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with MS (PwMS) presenting to a tertiary referral hospital in Nairobi. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p> We conducted a retrospective descriptive study for PwMS presenting to Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi from 2008\u20132018. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p> 99 cases met the diagnostic criteria for MS with a male to female ratio of 1:4. Majority (68.7%) of PwMS were indigenous Africans with a mean age of onset of 30.7\u2009years. Mean duration from symptom onset to first neuro-imaging was 5.04\u2009years. Only 33% of patients had sensory symptoms at onset whereas 54.5% had vitamin D deficiency\/insufficiency. Majority (79.5%) had relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) and 56.6% were initiated on disease modifying therapy (DMT). Only 21.2% of patients on DMT were non-compliant. Patients with RRMS were more likely to be initiated on DMT at our hospital (p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p> Clinical characteristics of these patients largely resemble those of other SSA cohorts and African American patients. There was a delay between symptom onset and neuroimaging. There were also issues with DMT compliance. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/20552173211022782","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]],"date-time":"2021-06-15T02:12:20Z","timestamp":1623723140000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Multiple sclerosis in Kenya: Demographic and clinical characteristics of a registry cohort"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3785-9938","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Imran","family":"Jamal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Aga Khan University Medical College of East Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jasmit","family":"Shah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aga Khan University Medical College of East Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Mativo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aga Khan University Medical College of East Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7057-1843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juzar","family":"Hooker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aga Khan University Medical College of East Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mitchell","family":"Wallin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterans Affairs Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Excellence \u2013 East, Washington, DC, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, DC, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8819-0851","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dilraj Singh","family":"Sokhi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aga Khan University Medical College of East Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(18)30443-5"},{"key":"bibr2-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1352458517694432"},{"key":"bibr3-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1212\/01.wnl.0000208505.81912.82"},{"key":"bibr4-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1212\/01.wnl.0000265057.79843.d9"},{"key":"bibr5-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/archneur.62.11.1681"},{"key":"bibr6-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4314\/eamj.v78i2.9096"},{"key":"bibr7-20552173211022782","first-page":"503","volume":"66","author":"Adam AM.","year":"1989","journal-title":"East Afr Med J"},{"key":"bibr8-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jns.2017.08.2998"},{"key":"bibr9-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(17)30470-2"},{"key":"bibr10-20552173211022782","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lublin FD, Reingold SC, Cohen JA, et al.  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