Mobility impairments and use of preventive services in women with multiple sclerosis: observational study.

miles on the clock” (G Watt, personal communication, 1999). The composition of the cohort changed markedly from 1974 to 1997, with a much greater proportion of survivors in 1997 being in the least deprived fifth than in the most deprived (27% and 14%, respectively, of men and 23% and 17% of women). These effects of deprivation on premature death may not be obvious in tables or histograms. Our cohort survival graphs, which can be constructed without complex links between records, clearly show the relation between deprivation and mortality. We thank the General Register Office for providing the mortality and population data and David Murphy of the Information and Statistics Division for his help in the initial analyses. Contributors: JC had the original idea, which he then developed with SC. JC did the analyses. Both authors drafted and wrote the paper. JC is the guarantor for the paper. Competing interests: None declared.