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Multiple Sclerosis in the UK

Service Use, Costs, Quality of Life and Disability

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Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic condition that affects quality of life (QOL), leads to disability and requires ongoing care inputs. Few studies have examined the impact of QOL, disability and demographic characteristics on treatment costs.

Objective: To investigate the links between service use, costs, QOL and disability for people with MS.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in people with MS who were members of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A questionnaire, consisting of sociodemographic questions, the Client Service Receipt Inventory, EQ-5D and Guy’s Neurological Disability Scale (GNDS), was sent to 4000 members of the Society. Service and lost employment costs were calculated. Regression models were developed to identify the participant characteristics that were associated with costs, QOL and disability. All costs are presented in year 2006–7 values.

Results: Questionnaires were returned by 1942 members (48.9%). The mean (SD) EQ-5D QOL score was 0.41 (0.34), whilst the GNDS disability score was 20.8 (8.9). The mean (SD) service cost over the preceding 6 months was £8397 (£10 404), and most of this (71.6%) was due to informal care. Only a small amount of cost (8.1%) was due to the use of disease-modifying drugs and drugs for spasticity. Lost employment costs amounted to a mean of £4240. Higher costs were associated with higher levels of disability and lower levels of health-related QOL.

Conclusions: This study showed that MS participants had high levels of service use, and that QOL was low in comparison with other conditions. There were significant associations between costs, QOL and disability.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the people with multiple sclerosis who responded to the survey. The study was funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Society distributed the questionnaire pack to members but played no role in the analysis of data or the writing of the paper.

The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Paul McCrone, Margaret Heslin & Martin Knapp

  2. London School of Economics, London, UK

    Martin Knapp

  3. School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Paul Bull

  4. Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK

    Alan Thompson

Authors
  1. Paul McCrone
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  2. Margaret Heslin
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  3. Martin Knapp
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  4. Paul Bull
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  5. Alan Thompson
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Correspondence to Paul McCrone.

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McCrone, P., Heslin, M., Knapp, M. et al. Multiple Sclerosis in the UK. Pharmacoeconomics 26, 847–860 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200826100-00005

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