Registry of Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Care (MSTRAC) Patient and Physician Characteristics

Abstract The registry of Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Care (MSTRAC) is an ongoing US research project that was initiated in April 1998. This article reports the characteristics of 2,590 relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 483 physicians enrolled as of July 31, 1999. The mean age of the MSTRAC patients was 44 years; 92% were white; and 83% were women. The majority had some college education, and 50% were employed. Eighty-one percent of patients had relapsing-remitting MS, 17% had secondary progressive MS with relapses, and 3% had progressive relapsing MS. Mean age at symptom onset was 34 years, and mean duration of illness was nine years; mean time between disease onset and diagnosis was two years. Most patients (84%) experienced either no or slow disability progression that varied significantly by the type of relapsing MS (P < .001). MSTRAC physicians had practiced medicine for a mean of 15 years and had spent 84% of their time in patient care. Physicians were distributed across the United States and saw their MS patients in various settings.