The association between handedness and clinicodemographic characteristics in people with multiple sclerosis: a brief report

A relationship between handedness and clinicodemographic profiles of people with multiple sclerosis was sought using data from the Multiple Sclerosis Partners Advancing Technology Health Solutions network of 10 multiple sclerosis centers in the USA and Europe. Handedness data were available for 8888 multiple sclerosis patients, of which 917 (10.3%) were left-handed. Clinicodemographic profiles of right versus left-handed multiple sclerosis patients were similar except for a slightly increased proportion of men who were left-handed, and slightly reduced performance on the manual dexterity test using the non-dominant hand in left-handed patients. We found no evidence to suggest a prognostic implication of handedness in multiple sclerosis.