Observational studyBMC health services research2025
Economic burden of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: DISCOVER study.
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of the MYO ArmbandJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- The Burden of Multiple Sclerosis in Japan from 1990 to 2021 and Predictions to 2050 Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Neuroepidemiology · 2026Article
- Autophagy-NLRP3 Inflammasome Crosstalk in Microglia: A Therapeutic Target for Multiple Sclerosis.Inflammation · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
38 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo estimate the socioeconomic burden of people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (pwSPMS), considering direct health care, direct non-health care, and indirect costs, and to evaluate the relationship between costs and patients' functional outcomes.
methodsObservational, cross-sectional, multicenter study with retrospective real-life clinical practice data collection from pwSPMS visiting the neurology services of 34 hospitals during 2019-2020. Clinical data included Expanded Disability Status Scale scores, number of relapses, magnetic resonance imaging, disease-modifying treatment (DMT), symptoms, and comorbidities from 24 months before the study visit. Resource use and allied costs were collected 12 months before the study visit. Patient-reported outcomes, functional and cognitive scales were also collected.
results70% of pwSPMS used primary care services, and nearly 50% needed assistance in a daycare or rehabilitation center. Almost 60% of the participants were receiving DMT at the study visit, and 80% needed support for domestic/housekeeping tasks. More than 90% were inactive at work, with nearly 80% taking early retirement. The estimated total annual cost per pwSPMS in Spain was almost €41,500, of which more than 50% (€21,400) were indirect costs, followed by direct health care costs (30%, €11,300), and, finally, direct non-health care costs (about 20%, €8,800). Older patients with severe disabilities and worse functional outcomes incurred higher costs.
conclusionsSPMS is a major burden on health care systems, patients, and society as a whole. Health care and societal policies should be aimed at improving the SPMS care pathway and minimizing patients' funding of direct non-health care costs.
trial registrationThe trial is a non-interventional study. The NCC code is CBAF312AES01/NOV-EMS-2019-01.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.