AccScience Publishing / AN / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/an.1383
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SHORT COMMUNICATION

Sexual behavior and risk of diagnosis with multiple sclerosis: A retrospective case–control study

Matthew Kennis1* ,  Katherine Thompson1 ,  Elijah W. Hale1
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1 School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America
Advanced Neurology 2023, 2(4), 1383 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.1383
Submitted: 27 July 2023 | Accepted: 28 November 2023 | Published: 12 December 2023
© 2023 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Adolescence is a critical window during which psychosocial factors have significant effects on the lifetime risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Sexual behavior is relevant early in adulthood and has not been described in its relationship to MS. Using a retrospective secondary analysis of cross-sectional data in the TriNetX database, we investigated the connection between orientation of sexual behavior and MS risk. We identified 13,595 males and 9,589 females with same-sex behavior and 64,409 males and 137,450 females with opposite-sex behavior. Cohorts were balanced on age, race, and ethnicity. Males engaging in same-sex behavior had a 2.80-fold higher risk of MS diagnosis (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.66 – 4.73), and females engaging in same-sex behavior had a 2.30-fold higher risk of MS diagnosis (95% CI: 1.65 – 3.20). Our findings thus advance the understanding of MS risk in the context of social determinants of health.

Keywords
Multiple sclerosis
Sexual behavior
Adverse childhood experiences
Adolescence
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
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Advanced Neurology, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9619 Print ISSN: 3060-8589, Published by AccScience Publishing
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