Family planning in Argentinian women with multiple sclerosis: An important yet seldom approached issue. Issue 2 (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alonso, Ricardo; Patrucco, Liliana; Silva, Berenice; Quarracino, Cecilia; Eizaguirre, María Barbara; Vrech, Carlos; López, Pablo; Carnero Contentti, Edgar; Deri, Norma; Carrá, Adriana; Chercorff, Aníbal; Tkachuk, Verónica; Balbuena, María Eugenia; Pettinicchi, Juan Pablo; Tavolini, Darío; Barboza, Andrés; Rojas, Juan I; Cristiano, Edgardo; Lázaro, Luciana; Garcea, Orlando; Fernández Liguori, Nora
• Is Part Of: Multiple sclerosis journal, experimental, translational and clinical. Volume 7:Issue 2(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Multiple sclerosis -- family planning -- pregnancy; Multiple sclerosis -- Periodicals; 616.834
• DOI: 10.1177/20552173211025312
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2055-2173

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess family planning (FP) among women with multiple sclerosis (WwMS). Methods: We invited 604 WwMS to answer a survey focused on FP: a) Temporal relationship between pregnancy and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis; b) History of FP; c) Childbearing desire; d) Information on family planning. Comparisons between pregnancy and not pregnancy after MS, as well as, planned and unplanned pregnancy were analyzed. Multivariate and univariate analyses were used to assess the impact of independent variables and FP Result: 428 (71.7%) WwMS completed the survey. A 19.1% got pregnant after MS diagnosis and we evaluated FP in the last pregnancy, 56.1% patients had a planned pregnancy. Professional addressing FP (OR = 0.27, 95%-CI 0.08-0.92, p = 0.03) and non-injection drug treatment before pregnancy (OR = 2.88, 95%-CI 1.01-8.21, p = 0.047) were independent predictors of unplanned pregnancy in our multivariate model. Among WwMS ≤ 40 years, 48.7% had future childbearing desire. Young age (p < 0.001), PDDS <3 (p = 0.018), disease duration <5 years (p = 0.02), not childbearing before MS diagnosis (p < 0.001) and neurologist addressing family planning (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with childbearing desire. Conclusions: This research highlights that pregnancy remains an important concern among WwMS.