Costs of Multiple Sclerosis According to the Level of Disability: A Systematic Review Study

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the relationship between the disability levels of MS patients and the total costs of the disease. For this purpose, a systematic review of Cost of Illness studies on MS in the literature, in which the total costs of patients are evaluated according to their disability levels determined the EDSS (Expanded Disability Status Scale), has been performed. Within the scope of the study, the literature search was carried out on the PubMed database. The study included research articles published in English between January 2000 and December 2019, performed on sick individuals and calculating direct and indirect costs. The search resulted in 825 publications. 52 studies in which costs were calculated according to the disability levels of the patients within the framework of the inclusion criteria were included in the evaluation and their results were analyzed and compared. The total annual costs of the disease (direct + indirect) increase with the increase in the disability level of the patients (mild disability $ 26,925; moderate disability $ 44,429; severe disability $ 66,792). Among the direct costs, drugs (Disease modifying drugs and others) costs (4-90%) and within indirect costs, production losses (3-68%) are the main cost components. Despite the various methodological differences between the studies, the results obtained reveal that MS is an important and priority health problem due to its rising costs.