Journal article
Prevalence of Diet Modification Among People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, Vol.102, 106654
10/2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2025.106654
PMID: 40753678
Abstract
•Among 48,104 people with MS, 22% have changed their diet in their lifetime.•Among 25,338, 17% may currently modify their diets.•Prevalences of diet modification were highest in North America and Oceania.•Evidence suggest that the prevalence of diet modifications has increased over time.•Few studies were of low risk of bias leading to very low quality of evidence.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) report modifying their diet to improve wellbeing; however, the overall prevalence of diet modification in this population is unknown.
To assess the prevalence of diet modification among people with MS.
A systematic literature review was performed July 2024 in four databases (Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection). Inclusion criteria were: 1) studies including adults with MS and 2) reporting the prevalence of diet modification. Random effects inverse-variance meta-analyses determined the prevalence of current and lifetime diet modification as well as subgroup analyses based on global region, survey date, sample size, and risk of bias (RoB). The protocol was registered August 2024 at PROSPERO (CRD42024573284).
Among 39 studies reporting on 43 independent samples with 48,104 participants with MS, 13,808 cases of lifetime diet modification were reported for an overall prevalence (95% CI) of 0.22 (0.17, 0.27). Additionally, among 23 studies reporting on 27 independent samples with 25,338 participants with MS, 4,893 cases of current diet modification were observed for a prevalence (95% CI) of 0.17 (0.11, 0.23). High heterogeneity was present and was explained by age, sex, MS duration, global region, survey year, sample size, and RoB, which was moderate/high for 74% of included samples and drove the very low quality of evidence rating for both outcomes.
Diet modification was common among people with MS with the highest prevalences observed in North America, Oceania, and international cohorts, along with an increasing trend over time.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Prevalence of Diet Modification Among People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
- Creators
- Farnoosh Shemirani - University of IowaTyler J. Titcomb - University of Kansas Medical Center
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, Vol.102, 106654
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.msard.2025.106654
- PMID
- 40753678
- NLM abbreviation
- Mult Scler Relat Disord
- ISSN
- 2211-0348
- eISSN
- 2211-0356
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V
- Grant note
- National MS Society career transition award: TA-2205-39486 Carter Chapman Shreve Family FoundationCarter Chapman Shreve Fellowship Fund for diet and lifestyle research
TJT was supported by a National MS Society career transition award (TA-2205-39486) . TJT and FS were additionally supported by the Carter Chapman Shreve Family Foundation and the Carter Chapman Shreve Fellowship Fund for diet and lifestyle research conducted at the University of Iowa. Funding sources were not involved in the design of the study, collection/analysis/interpretation of data, writing of report, or decision to publish.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/27/2025
- Date published
- 10/2025
- Academic Unit
- Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984927081302771
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