This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
As has been discussed previously, the case-control study is the most feasible design for examining possible risk factors for multiple sclerosis(MS). After cases and controls are selected, information on possible risk factors and confounding variables is collected through interviews, self-administered questionnaires, record review, or some combination. Most investigators have developed their own questionnaires, and most have not built upon the data collection methods used by others. Furthermore, with few exceptions, little information on the precise data collected or the method used is given when case-control studies are published. As a result, not only are new investigators forced to work from scratch and may run into the same problems as their predecessors, but also comparison of results across studies is hampered. As a first step in enhancing the comparability of future case-control studies and in providing a template for the development of a questionnaire for new investigators, the following guidelines can be useful in developing questionnaires to be used in case-control studies of MS. This template was constructed following review of a number of questionnaires used in previous studies provided to the authors by investigators who designed and used such questionnaires. The list of contributors is presented in the acknowledgments.
This template is not proposed for immediate use but to serve as a model from which investigators may develop a questionnaire that is suitable for the objectives of their study and for the population among which the study is being carried out. The template is not all inclusive, and over time new hypotheses will probably be of interest unknown at the present time. The aim, however, has been to include items with established or proposed biologic plausibility in MS as suggested in previous epidemiologic, biologic, and clinical studies. The majority of these relate to influences on immunoregulation and tolerance to myelin …
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
