Patients with multiple sclerosis do not necessarily consume more alcohol or tobacco than the general population

• Published in: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria Vol. 73; no. 10; pp. 828 - 833
• Main Authors: Fragoso, Yara Dadalti, Gomes, Sidney, Goncalves, Marcus Vinicius M, Machado, Suzana C Nunes, Morales, Rogerio de Rizo, Oliveira, Francisco Tomas M de, Oliveira, João Filipe de, Olmo, Neide R Simoes, Parolin, Monica K Fiuza, Siquineli, Fabio, Stoney, Patrick N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Academia Brasileira de Neurologia - ABNEURO 01-10-2015; Academia Brasileira de Neurologia (ABNEURO)
• Subjects: Adult; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; ansiedade; Anxiety - psychology; Brazil - epidemiology; Cultural Characteristics; Depression - psychology; depressão; Disability Evaluation; Epidemiologic Methods; esclerose múltipla; Female; Humans; Life Style; Male; Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive - psychology; Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting - psychology; NEUROSCIENCES; PSYCHIATRY; Socioeconomic Factors; tabaco; Tobacco Use - epidemiology; Tobacco Use - psychology; álcool; Brazil; alcohol; illicit drugs; anxiety; multiple sclerosis; álcool; ansiedade; depressão; tobacco; depression; esclerose múltipla; tabaco
• ISSN: 0004-282X; 1678-4227; 1678-4227
• DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20150117

Purpose Recent papers suggest that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are prone to alcohol misuse. This may be due to the combination of a lifelong and disabling disease with a psychiatric profile typical of MS. The objective of the present study was to assess these findings in a culturally different population of patients with MS.Method The present case-control transversal study assessed 168 patients with MS and 168 control subjects from Brazil.Results There were no evidence that patients with MS drank more alcohol or, smoked more than did controls. In fact, control subjects had a significantly higher alcohol consumption. The only trait associated to higher alcohol consumption was anxiety, both for patients and controls.Conclusion Unlike previous reports in the literature, patients with MS in our study did not drink or smoked more than a control population.