Evaluation of Reproductive and Pregnancy Health in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

Background and Aim : Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous System (CNS). It is more prevalent in women than men. Typical age of onset in the third or fourth decades. Most women with MS are diagnosed during their reproductive ages. Therefore, the aim of this study was evaluation of reproductive and pregnancy health in women with multiple sclerosis.Methods : A retrospective descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 110 women suffering from MS with a history of pregnancy in Isfahan, Iran in 2018. The subjects had become pregnant within the recent decade and were selected via random sampling. After receiving their consent, they completed a researcher-constructed questionnaire by telephone. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: demographic information, MS and its symptoms and its treatment, and the third part was related to the fertility profile and the history of pregnancy associated with MS. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using Chi-square, ANOVA and t-test.Results : The mean age of women with MS in this study was 32.4 years. Most of the subjects studied were married (98.2%), had undergraduate and graduate education (51.8%), and of the ordinary social classes (86.4%). The most common primary symptom of the disease in this population was blurred vision (42.7%). 81.5% of the patients suffered from the recurrent and declining kind of the disease. In this population, the average number of pregnancies was 1.61, the number of deliveries was 1.35, the number of abortions was 0.24, the history of ectopic pregnancy was 0.01, the number of alive children was 1.36 and the number of dead children was 0.01. Most of them had no history of infertility (95.4%). The average time of the last MS attack before the pregnancy was 21.36 months. The most commonly used drug before pregnancy was Sinox (43.4%). Most of the subjects discontinued the medication after planning for pregnancy (97.3%), of which 88.1% had no recurrence of the disease during pregnancy. 86.2% of pregnant women did not suffer from MS attacks. Fatigue (24.5%) was the most common symptom exacerbated during pregnancy. MS symptoms improved in 55.0% of subjects in the second trimester.Conclusion : MS had no effect on the pregnancy status, such as the number of abortions, ectopic pregnancy, the number of alive and dead children, the state of infertility, and the duration of pregnancy. Therefore, MS does not have a negative effect on pregnancy. Also, the symptoms of the disease are improved during pregnancy with respect to pre-pregnancy and postpartum. The symptoms of the disease are improved during pregnancy (especially in the second trimester). Therefore, pregnancy has a protective role against MS.

کلیدواژه ها:

Multiple Sclerosis ، Reproductive ، Pregnancy ، Health