High Costs, HCRU Associated With Pediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis

Individuals with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) have higher health care costs and resource utilization and report worse quality of life (QoL) compared to healthy controls, according to findings published in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research.

Between 2% and 5% of people with MS worldwide experience disease onset before the age of 18, study authors said. Children with MS have higher rates of relapse than adults, and children also tend to reach disability milestones and secondary disease progression earlier.

The systematic review included studies published after September 2010 in MEDLINE and Embase. Eleven studies reported costs, utilization, and insurance status, while an additional 36 studies included quality of life data.

“Reporting on these outcomes together can provide a comprehensive overview of the societal and individual costs of the disease, including the decrement in QoL,” researchers said.

Compared to healthy controls, people with pediatric-onset MS had more primary care visits (rate ratio, 1.41 [1.29-1.54]), hospital visits (rate ratio, 10.74 [8.95-12.90]), and admissions (rate ratio, 4.27 [2.92-6.25]; odds ratio, 15.2 [12.0-19.1]).

On average and across health care settings, per-patient costs were $5907 annually in the United States between 2002 and 2012. Additionally, the average cost of a hospital stay between 2004 and 2013 was $38,543 (2015 USD).

The Pediatric Quality of Life Measurement Model was used for reporting psychosocial and physical health scores, which ranged from 71.59 to 79.7 and 74.62 to 82.75, respectively. Average scores ranged from 63.15 to 78.5 on the Pediatric Quality of Life Multidimensional Fatigue Scale.

Researchers found QoL scores were lower for those with pediatric-onset MS as compared to healthy controls.

“Health care resource utilization and costs are high in this population, and patients report reduced QoL and significant fatigue compared with healthy children and adolescents,” researchers concluded. “Additional research on health care resource utilization and cost would provide a more robust understanding of the economic burden in this population.”

Reference:
Greene N, Araujo L, Campos C, Dalglish H, Gibbs S, Yermilov I. The economic and humanistic burden of pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis. J Health Econ Outcomes Res. 2022;9(2):103-114. doi:10.36469/001c.37992