Table 3 Distribution of baseline characteristics among the patients across all the regions of KSA (n = 2507)
From: Rising prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Saudi Arabia, a descriptive study
Variable | Total (%) | Western Region (%) | Central Region (%) | Eastern Region (%) | Southern Region (%) | Northern Region (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | ||||||
 Male | 839(33.5) | 125(33.3) | 287(33.3) | 325(32.9) | 59(34.1) | 43(39.4) |
 Female | 1668(66.5) | 250(66.7) | 575(66.7) | 663(67.1) | 114(65.9) | 66(60.6) |
Agea | ||||||
 </=40 | 1941(77.5) | 728(73.8) | 698(81.0) | 294(78.4) | 137(79.2) | 84(77.1) |
 > 40 | 565(22.5) | 259(26.2) | 164(19.0) | 81(21.6) | 36(20.8) | 25(22.9) |
Educationa | ||||||
 Illiterate | 32(1.3) | 20(2.0) | 5(0.6) | 4(1.1) | 3(1.7) | 0(0.0) |
 Primary | 235(9.4) | 106(9.4) | 68(7.9) | 27(7.2) | 21(12.1) | 13(11.9) |
 High school | 798(31.9) | 284(28.8) | 257(30.0) | 166(44.5) | 53(30.6) | 38(34.9) |
 University and above | 1434(57.4) | 577(58.5) | 527(61.5) | 176(47.2) | 96(55.5) | 58(53.2) |
Occupationa | ||||||
 Employed | 1040(41.6) | 380(38.5) | 382(44.6) | 155(41.4) | 72(41.6) | 51(47.2) |
 Unemployed | 1203(48.2) | 516(52.3) | 363(42.4) | 189(50.6) | 82(47.4) | 53(49.1) |
 Student | 56(10.2) | 91(9.2) | 112(13.1) | 30(8.0) | 19(11.0) | 4(3.7) |
Marital statusa | ||||||
 Single | 910(36.3) | 334(33.8) | 327(38.0) | 146(38.9) | 72(41.6) | 31(28.4) |
 Divorced/widow (er) | 91(3.6) | 35(3.5) | 35(4.1) | 11(2.9) | 5(2.9) | 5(4.6) |
 Married | 1504(60.0) | 619(62.7) | 498(57.9) | 218(58.1) | 96(55.5) | 498(57.9) |
Education Materiala | ||||||
 Given | 1963(86.9) | 742(93.8) | 645(77.9) | 355(95.7) | 126(76.8) | 95(89.6) |
 Not Given | 297(13.1) | 49(6.2) | 183(22.1) | 16(4.3) | 38(23.2) | 11(10.4) |
Age at 1st attack (Mean SD) | 27.82(8.86) | 28.50(9.39) | 27.29(8.22) | 26.93(8.81) | 27.54(8.81) | 29.50(8.64) |
No of previous relapse (Mean SD) | 1.10(1.41) | 1.20(1.45) | 1.05(1.47) | 0.70(1.09) | 1.41(1.53) | 1.32(1.13) |