Socioeconomic Status and Its Impact on Clinical and Radiographic Findings in MOGAD at Diagnosis
James Edwards1, Bohan Kim1, Amna Ali1, Jennifer Cheng1, Ivy Zheng1, Ashish Balar1, Rajesh Gupta1
1McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
Objective:
To investigate statistically significant associations between socioeconomic status, demographics, radiographic findings, and clinical symptoms in MOGAD patients.
Background:
Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease (MOGAD) is a central nervous system demyelinating disorder with a wide range of clinical and radiographic features. While prior studies have explored clinical and radiological findings in MOGAD, the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on these variables has not been well studied.
Design/Methods:
A retrospective analysis was conducted on 45 adult MOGAD patients from the greater Houston area using electronic health records. Patients were grouped by socioeconomic status (SES) based on income percentiles (below the 20th) and the Area of Deprivation Index (ADI). Proportions were compared to assess for statistically significant associations between SES, demographics, radiographic findings, and clinical symptoms.
Results:
Patients with ADI scores greater than 5 were linked to lower proportions of white patients (18.8% vs 65.5%, n=16 vs n=29, p=0.003), higher proportions of black patients (37.5% vs 6.9%, n=16 vs n=29, p=0.010), incomes below the 20th percentile (53.3% vs 6.9%, n=15 vs n=29, p=<0.001), thoracic spine lesions (66.7% vs 30.0%, n=12 vs n=20, p=0.043), intracanalicular optic nerve lesions (88.9% vs 37.5%, n=9 vs n=16, p=0.013), and weakness (56.3% vs 20.7%, n=16 vs n=29, p=0.015).
Conclusions:
Socioeconomic status, as measured by income and ADI, appears to significantly influence both clinical presentation and radiographic findings in MOGAD patients at diagnosis. Lower SES was associated with higher rates of low income earners, black patients, thoracic spine lesions, and weakness. These findings underscore the need to consider SES in both clinical evaluation and management decisions for patients with MOGAD.
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