2026 American Academy of Neurology Abstract Website

Objective:

Hispanic/Latino patients living with multiple sclerosis in the United States represent a community with diverse culture, migration, and ancestry that is still not well defined. There is little known about Hispanic patients affected by MS, particularly those with pediatric onset.

Background:

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system characterized by inflammation, demyelination, and neuronal loss. In 2010, Hispanic or Latino (H/L) patients accounted for 7% of the total United States MS population. Little is known about Hispanic patients with MS and much of what has been studied has included, but not always differentiated, the pediatric onset MS (POMS) population within their analysis.

Design/Methods:

Our goal is to help identify any key differences in readmission rates and duration of hospitalization amongst Hispanic/Latino and Not-Hispanic/Latino patients with pediatric onset MS (POMS). We performed a retrospective case control study of hospitalization rates and lengths of stay for patients with POMS admitted from January 1, 2000-April 17, 2025 using the deidentified and collaborative nationwide Epic Cosmos database.

Results:

The Epic Cosmos database was able to identify 5,275 Hispanic or Latino patients and 25,091 not Hispanic or Latino patients with MS. We found the average length of hospital stay and unplanned readmission rate were similar for the two groups yielding a paired t test p=0.82 and OR=.92 95% CI (.79-1.07) p=0.29, respectively. However, hospitalization rate was found to be 38.6% (n= 2,034 95% CI, 37.3-39.9%) for H/L patients and 33.3% (n=8,352, 95% CI 32.71-33.88%) for not H/L patients, OR 1.26 95% CI 1.18-1.33 p<0.0001.

Conclusions:

There is no statistically significant difference in hospital average length of stay or readmission rate between H/L and Not-H/L children and young adults with MS. However, hospitalization rate was found to be significantly higher amongst H/L patients, suggesting that social determinants of health play a role.