ArticleNeurology2023
Direct Health Care Costs Associated With Multiple Sclerosis: A Population-Based Cohort Study in British Columbia, Canada, 2001-2020.
Article in Neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- An updated review of the economic burden of multiple sclerosis: direct and indirect costs.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Identification of diagnostic biomarkers for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in plasma by mass spectrometry-based proteomics.Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology · 2026Article
- Multiple sclerosis risk stratification and healthcare cost prediction using machine learning.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Trends in Neuropsychiatric Terminology Use Within Registered Clinical Trials for Multiple Sclerosis: A Retrospective Descriptive Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- De-escalating and discontinuing disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Review
- Support needs and preferences for people with multiple sclerosis: a rapid review protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Microglial Mayhem NLRP3 Inflammasome's Role in Multiple Sclerosis Pathology.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Review
- Benefits of early highly effective versus escalation treatment strategies in relapsing multiple sclerosis estimated using a treatment-sequence model.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2024Article
- Data resource profile: PharmaNet, the database for prescription drug dispensing in British Columbia, Canada.International journal of population data science · 2023Article
- Health-economic benefits of anti-CD20 treatments in relapsing multiple sclerosis estimated using a treatment-sequence model.Multiple sclerosis journal - experimental, translational and clinicalArticle
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesMultiple sclerosis (MS), a leading cause of nontraumatic neurologic disability in young adults, exerts a substantial economic burden on the health care system. The objective of this study was to quantify the excess health care costs of MS in British Columbia, Canada.
methodsA retrospective-matched cohort study of patients with MS was conducted using population-based administrative health data from 2001 to 2020. Patients with MS who satisfied a validated case definition were matched to 5 unique controls without MS on sex, age, and cohort entry date. Patients and controls were followed to the end of 2020 or to their last health care resource use, whichever came first. We calculated the direct medical costs for each individual, including outpatient services use, hospital admissions, and dispensed medications. We used generalized linear models with an identity link and normal distribution to estimate the excess cost of MS as the mean cost difference between patients with MS and controls. All costs were reported in 2020 Canadian dollars.
resultsA total of 17,071 patients with MS were matched to 85,355 controls. Overall, 72.4% were female, and the mean age at cohort entry date was 46.1 years. The excess cost of MS was $6,881 (95% CI: $6,713, $7,049) per patient-year. Inpatient, outpatient, and medication costs accounted for 25%, 10%, and 65% of excess costs, respectively. Excess costs were higher in patients with MS with at least one disease-modifying therapy (DMT) prescription ($13,267; 95% CI: $12,992-$13,542) compared with non-DMT users ($3,469; 95% CI: $3,297-$3,641) and even higher among frequent DMT users ($24,835; 95% CI: $24,528-$25,141). Patients with MS with a history of at least one relapse requiring hospitalization had higher excess costs ($10,543; 95% CI: $10,136-$10,950) compared with patients with MS without a relapse; hospitalizations accounted for 51% of the costs in this group. The excess cost of hospitalizations was $1,391 lower among frequent DMT users than non-DMT users. DISCUSSION: The economic burden of MS is considerable, with medications, particularly DMTs, being the largest cost driver. Future studies should investigate how disease management strategies, including early diagnosis and timely use of DMTs, could offset future and ongoing costs while improving patients' quality of life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.