Patients with MS in Sweden have elevated levels of sick leave and disability pension up to 15 years before disease diagnosis. Our results highlight the burden of disease on affected patients and society and underscore the substantial unmet medical need.

ObjectiveThe objective of this retrospective, observational study was to estimate the long-term impact of early treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) on the risk of disability pension.MethodsOur cohort comprised patients with MS in Sweden, identified in a nationwide disease-specific register (the Swedish Multiple Sclerosis Registry), who started treatment with a disease-modifying drug (DMD) between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2012. We analyzed the association between time from onset of MS to treatment initiation and full-time disability pension using survival analysis.ResultsOur sample comprised 2477 patients. Unadjusted Kaplan–Meier failure functions showed that patients who started treatment within six months after onset had a lower risk of disability pension across follow-up compared with patients initiating therapy after 12 months. Outcomes from the univariate Cox proportional hazards model showed that time from onset to treatment initiation (in years) was significantly associated with disability pension (HR 1.03, p < 0.001). Outcomes from the multivariable Cox proportional hazards model showed that patients who started treatment within 6 months after onset had, on average, a 36% lower risk (HR 0.74, p = 0.010) of full-time disability pension during follow-up compared with patients starting treatment after 18 months when controlling for age, sex, marital status, university education, and prevalent comorbidities.ConclusionsWe show that early treatment with DMDs of MS is associated with a significantly reduced risk of disability pension. Our findings highlight the potential long-term benefits of early treatment of MS and should be helpful to inform ongoing discussion on the optimum medical management of the disease.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00415-018-8764-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We show that many patients with MS in Sweden lose their ability to support for themselves financially but still have a relatively high disposable income because of social transfers. Our findings underscore the detrimental impact of MS on affected patients and the considerable economic burden of disease to society.

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In general, we found only slight differences--or none at all--between population groups in terms of drug treatment after AMI. Only among immigrants from outside the EU25 countries was there a tendency towards a lesser use of the recommended drugs according to the national guidelines.