The purpose of the work was to study the indicators of disability in adults with myasthenia gravis in the selected regions of Ukraine. Material and methods. For the analysis of the health indicators of the population associated with myasthenia gravis, including the prevalence of myasthenia gravis and disability, a medical and statistical methods were used to calculate relative common indicators, standardized indicators, and visual indicators. The study of the prevalence of myasthenia gravis and disability in Ukraine was conducted in a sample population comprising ten regions of Ukraine. Results and discussion. During the study period (2014) in Ukraine, in the 10 surveyed areas 757 people had myasthenia gravis; the average annual prevalence was 5.16 (95% CI 4.79–5.53) per 100 thousand population and varied from 2.97 to 6.09 per 100 thousand population respectively in Volyn and Mykolaiv regions. The prevalence of myasthenia gravis had high variability depending on the area of the patient's residence. Significantly lower than average (p<0.05) indicators were recorded in the Volyn region (–42.36%), Ivano–Frankivsk region (–31.31%) and Chernivtsi region (–27.54%); higher indicators were fixed in the Dnipropetrovsk region (+29.79%). With respect to the incidence of myasthenia–related disability per 1,000 cases of the disease detected, its average across the surveyed territories was 644.65% (95% CI 610.55–678.74) with some fluctuations between the territories. Generally, on average across all territories, the level of disability was lower among rural residents by 10.96% (p = 0.041) compared to urban residents, by 15.15% among women compared to men (p = 0.029), in older age groups compared to those under the age of 60 years – by 45.84% (p <0.001). A significant number of myasthenia patients in Ukraine were diagnosed with thymoma (27.08%), but nevertheless they did not undergo thymectomy. This fact can significantly affect the severity and course of myasthenia gravis. With regard to the frequency of thymoma (one of the significant factors in the development of disability in myasthenia gravis) according to this study, it was observed with a frequency of 270.81 cases per 1000 cases of myasthenia gravis (95% CI 239.15–302.46) with fluctuations from 93.33% (95 % CI 27.5– 159.17) in the Vinnitsa region to 580.65 ‰ (95% CI 406.94–754.35) in the Volyn region (p <0.01). Almost one third of all patients from general sample 205 (27.08 %) had thymoma, 224 (29.59%) patients underwent thymectomy (in history). Conclusion. The incidence of myasthenia disability in the surveyed territories is high and amounts to 644.65% (95% CI 610.55–678.74). The highest level of disability in myasthenia gravis was recorded in the Zaporizhzhia region (841.58% (95% CI 770.38–912.79)) and in the Chernihiv region (809.52% (95% 690.77–928.28)), the lowest was recorded in the Vinnitsa region (146.67 ‰ (95% CI 66.6– 226.73)). Disability rates were significantly lower among rural residents compared to urban residents, among women compared to men, in the older age groups compared to those under 60 years of age.
Keywords: myasthenia gravis, prevalence, disability, age groups, general incidence
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