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Multiple sclerosis: relapses, resource use, and costs

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Abstract

Background

Relapses can have a major impact on the lives of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and yet relapse-related healthcare costs have received little attention. This has limited cost-effectiveness analyses of treatments for MS and hampered decision-making regarding the funding of MS healthcare services.

Objective

To describe health/social care resource use and costs according to the frequency, severity, and endurance of MS relapses.

Methods

Data from the prospective, longitudinal UK South West Impact of Multiple Sclerosis cohort were used. A total of 11,800 questionnaires from 1441 people with MS were available, including data on relapses, contacts with health/social care professionals, and other MS-related resource use.

Results

The mean (SD) 6-monthly MS-related health/social care cost for individuals who reported a relapse was £519 (£949), compared to £229 (£366) for those who had not did report a relapse. Care costs varied widely dependent on the characteristics of the relapse. The mean (SD) cost when a relapse was not treated with steroids was £381 (£780), whilst the equivalent cost was £3579 (£1727) when a relapse resulted in hospitalization.

Conclusions

The impact of relapses on health and social care resources and costs differs according to their frequency, length, and severity. The data provided here can be used in cost-effectiveness analyses and to inform decision-making regarding healthcare provision for people with this condition.

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Acknowledgments

The South West Impact of Multiple Sclerosis (SWIMS) project has been supported through funding from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Peninsula Medical School Foundation and the UK NIHR Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). AH and CG acknowledge partial funding from the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care of the South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

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  1. Health Economics Group, University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, South Cloisters, St Luke’s Campus, Magdalen Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2LU, UK

    A. J. Hawton & C. Green

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  1. A. J. Hawton
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Correspondence to A. J. Hawton.

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Hawton, A.J., Green, C. Multiple sclerosis: relapses, resource use, and costs. Eur J Health Econ 17, 875–884 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-015-0728-3

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