Suppose one is interested in determining whether the genotype at some locus of interest affects the rate
of progression of disease of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). One method would be to calculate the
mean EDSS score in patients with each of the genotypes and test whether they are significantly different.
However, this approach is inefficient if patients have their EDSS assessed at different durations of
disease, as patients who have had MS longer typically have higher EDSS scores regardless of their
genotype. By adjusting for duration, a more powerful test can be developed.
MSSStest is a program for implementing the method described in the article The Multiple Sclerosis
Severity Score. R. Roxburgh S. Seaman et al. (2004), accepted for publication by Neurology. It calculates
MSSS scores and uses these scores to test for differences between disease progression rates in different
groups defined by genotype at some locus.
To use the program first copy the table of disease scores to the current directory. You are expected to
use the EDSS scores provided by the authors.