AbstractThe distribution of two‐point heterogeneity lod scores (HLOD) has been intensively investigated because the conventional χ2 approximation to the likelihood ratio test is not directly applicable. However, there was no study investigating th e distribution of the multipoint HLOD despite its wide application. Here we want to point out that, compared with the two‐point HLOD, the multipoint HLOD essentially tests for homogeneity given linkage and follows a relatively simple limiting distribution , which can be obtained by established statistical theory. We further examine the theoretical result by simulation studies. Genet. Epidemiol. 34: 912‐916, 2010.© 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.