Comparison of different demographic and disease related parameters between the two groups of patients
| Total (n=32) | Automatically extracted from databases (n=18) | Spontaneously referred by treating neurologists (n=14) | p Value | |
| Age at disease onset (years) | 26.3±5.0 | 25.8±2.9 | 27.1±6.5 | 0.351 |
| Course of the disease (RR/SP/PR) (n) | 27/4/1 | 14/4/0 | 13/0/1 | – |
| Disease duration at first IVF (years) | 6.6±4.7 | 6.3±4.0 | 7.0±5.7 | 0.970 |
| Age at first IVF (years) | 32±6.4 | 32.6±3.9 | 32.6±4.2 | 0.65 |
| Duration of follow-up (years) | 10.5±6.3 | 11.4±4.7 | 9.4±7.9 | 0.15 |
| ARR before IVF (mean±SD) (No of IVF procedures) | 0.80±1.61 (70) | 0.84±1.65 (43) | 0.74±1.58 (27) | 0.867 |
| ARR after IVF (mean±SD) (No of IVF procedures) | 1.60±2.40 (70) | 1.21±2 (43) | 2.2±2.8 (27) | 0.1192 |
| Patients treated with disease modifying therapies during IVF (n) | 4 | 0 | 4 | – |
Values are mean±SD or number.
Database group (n=18), patients recruited through multiple sclerosis and IVF databases.
Referral group (n=14), patients recruited through their referring neurologists.
No significant difference was observed using Mann–Whitney tests.
IVF, in vitro fertilisation; PR, progressive relapsing; RR, relapsing remitting; SP, secondary progressive.