Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disease with a neurodegenerative component of the central nervous system. Immunomodulatory therapy can increase the risk of infection, which is a particular risk for MS patients. Therefore, a complete vaccination status is of utmost importance as protection against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. Our aim was to investigate the vaccination status, vaccination card knowledge and the vaccination behavior of MS patients with regard to vaccinations against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and poliomyelitis. Three hundred twenty-seven patients with MS were evaluated by anamnesis, clinical examination, structured interview and vaccination card control in this two-center study. Based on the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute, we assessed the completeness of the vaccination status of the examined vaccinations. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of patients with complete/incomplete or correctly/wrongly self-reported vaccination status was performed. In the cohort analyzed, the vaccination coverage was 79.5% for tetanus, 79.2% for diphtheria, 74.8% for pertussis and 84.8% for poliomyelitis. The assumed vaccination status was higher for tetanus (86.5%) and lower for diphtheria (69.4%), pertussis (61.2%) and poliomyelitis (75.9%). Patients who were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against tetanus had received vaccination advice from a physician less often in the past year (13.4 vs. 36.9%, p < 0.001) and had no one to check the vaccination card more often (35.8 vs. 12.3%, p < 0.001). High sensitivity (93.7%) and low specificity (30.3%) were determined regarding the validity of self-reported tetanus vaccination status. Patients with a correctly reported tetanus vaccination status were more likely to have their vaccination card checked by a physician than those who overestimated or underestimated their vaccination status (76.7 vs. 63.0/43.8%, p = 0.002). Similar findings were seen with regard to diphtheria, pertussis and poliomyelitis vaccination. Patients without a regular vaccination card control (17.1%) were more likely to be male (44.6 vs. 29.4%, p = 0.037), had fewer siblings on average (1.1 vs. 1.6, p = 0.016), dealt less frequently with the issue of vaccination in the past year (32.1 vs. 69.3%, p < 0.001) and more frequently had the wish to receive vaccination advice (48.2 vs. 34.4%, p = 0.030) than patients in whom the vaccination card was checked regularly by a physician. To minimize the risk of infection in MS patients, treating physicians should provide regular vaccination counseling and perform vaccination card controls, as these factors are associated with a higher vaccination coverage and a higher validity of self-reported vaccination statuses.
Keywords: diphtheria; multiple sclerosis; pertussis; poliomyelitis; tetanus; vaccination behavior; vaccination coverage; vaccination status self-assessment.