Background: The gynaecological care of women with Multiple Sclerosis has received little attention; most reports focussed on pregnancy or sexuality. The objective of the present study was to evaluate if gynaecological follow-up for women of reproductive age with Multiple Sclerosis was adequate.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on a large cohort of women with Multiple Sclerosis aged 18-40 years. All participants completed online questionnaires on general health status, gynaecological follow-up, and sexuality. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores were extracted from medical records. The study was registered in clinicaltrials.gov with the number NCT05248438, and in the European database ID-RCB with the number 2021-A02912-39.
Results: Of the 192 patients who completed questionnaires, 157 (82.2%) reported gynaecological follow-up. Of the 155 patients on immunosuppressive treatments, only 31 (20%) underwent annual cervical screening. Of the 140 patients who met the French papillomavirus vaccination age recommendations, only 50 (35.7%) were vaccinated. A total of 128 (66.7%) patients used contraception. However, 16 (8.3%) patients reported unplanned pregnancies since the time of diagnosis.
Conclusion: Women with Multiple Sclerosis require more information on reproductive health and prevention of cancer. Better contraceptive advice would reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and avoid foetal exposure to potentially teratogenic treatment.
Keywords: Cervical screening; Contraception; Counselling; Gynaecological follow-up; Immunosuppressive therapy; Multiple sclerosis.
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