2023-10-12 18:28:34
Just over 20 thousand euros, 20,229 to be precise. This is the average total cost of multiple sclerosis that each patient has to face each year. This is what emerges from a cross-sectional study on the social costs of multiple sclerosis “The Economic Burden Of Multiple Sclerosis In An Italian Cohort Of Patients: Analysis Of Disease Cost And Quality Of Life” conducted on 393 patients of the Mondino Pavia Neurological Institute, whose data were presented by Biogen at the 39th Ectrims Congress (Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) in Milan.
For the occasion, Biogen also illustrated the data from a project, also conducted in Italy, which together with the study aims to identify the impact of MS on quality of life and social costs and to define shared models to accelerate the implementation of proximity assistance on the national territory. The two posters – we read in a note – which overall outline an updated scenario of the management and management of MS in Italy, are the result of collaboration with experts from various specialized centers and Aism, the Italian multiple sclerosis association.
A few months after AIFA approved the reimbursement of the new solution for subcutaneous use of natalizumab for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, the study – on patients being treated with “disease modifying” drugs, with an average age of 45 years, in 95% of cases affected by the relapsing-remitting form and with a median disability index of 1.5 – shed light on the high social costs associated with the disease, related to aspects characterizing MS such as chronicity, early loss of productivity and the need for long-term healthcare.
A significant percentage of the people with MS enrolled in the study – the note details – reported some problems, sometimes serious, in their health profile (Health-related-QoL). In particular, pain/discomfort (50.9%), anxiety/depression (51.4%) and mobility limitations (30.4%). The average total costs of the disease, expressed in patient/year (2019), were estimated at 20,299 euros. The direct healthcare costs estimated during the study are equal to 14,587.5 euros per patient/year while the direct non-healthcare costs are equal to 1,176.6 euros. The analysis also took into consideration the loss of productivity of 124 people enrolled, with an estimate of the related cost equal to an average of 4,535.3 euros per patient/year.
“The study constitutes an important step to more clearly outline the social costs of MS in the Italian scenario – explains Roberto Bergamaschi, neurologist and scientific director of the Mondino Foundation, National Neurological Institute Irccs of Pavia – While keeping in mind the differences in the management of the territory In fact, we can say that some aspects characterizing MS, and primarily the chronicity and degenerative nature of the disease, have a strong impact on people’s quality of life. An impact that this study has tried to measure and quantify precisely, starting, especially with regard to the youngest, from the early loss of productivity which often has important consequences both in the professional and social and family careers. The results of the study, useful for outlining a scenario of management in our country, confirm that the management costs of MS are directly proportional to the degree of disability and that the repercussions – in relapsing remitting MS, the most widespread form of the disease – constitute a factor that has a strong impact on the increase in management costs.”
“The study offers a rigorous, updated and complete cross-section of the costs linked to the treatment and management of MS – underlines Michela Ponzio, coordinator of Research in Public Health in the Scientific Research area of the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (Fism) – only in those who takes course-modifying drugs, without limiting itself to health aspects alone but also investigating the impact on people living with the disease, shedding light on their conditions and quality of life. Quantifying and understanding how much and how the phenomenon of MS impacts the entire Italian society is a necessary first step to contribute to raising awareness of the disease and its social and health consequences, which can concern everyone. Not only that, this type of study can prove to be very useful for people with MS and for the associations that represent them, such as Aism, as they constitute a tool for evaluating, measuring and identifying the most widespread problems that families face in everyday life. ”.
At the Ectrims Congress, a poster dedicated to the StayHome project was also presented, born from the collaboration between Biogen and numerous Italian MS Centers to cope, during the pandemic emergency, with the restrictions and the need to avoid contagion which have made it even more complex the care of people with MS. The project, which has evolved and developed over the last three years, now sees the collaboration of Aism and is aimed at accelerating the integration of local assistance in the management and care of people with MS in Italy.
“The StayHome project has made it possible to identify more clearly the priority areas of intervention to implement a truly local approach to assistance and thus contribute to meeting the needs of the over 130 thousand people living with this disease in Italy – explains Gerola Marfia , responsible for the Multiple Sclerosis Unit of the Tor Vergata Polyclinic – Very important aspects are the formalization and digitalisation of the integrated paths that connect the hospital and the territory. Not only that, StayHome has made practical tools available, including a ‘Maturity Model’, useful for evaluating and supporting the implementation of community care in the management of MS, both at a regional and national level”.
“This year at Ectrims we presented, in addition to the main innovations relating to our pipeline in multiple sclerosis, two posters that contribute to shedding light on the Italian scenario in the management and care of people living with this neurological disease – concludes Matteo Papi, medical director of Biogen Italia – The analysis conducted on the social costs of MS and the StayHome project, which in recent years has involved over 150 healthcare professionals, hospital managers and regional stakeholders, demonstrate Biogen’s 360-degree commitment to initiatives and studies which have the objective of concretely improving the quality of life of people with MS, starting from the clear and timely identification of their needs and requirements. The quantitative and qualitative analysis works presented constitute essential tools for clearly measuring the impact of the disease on living conditions and the current offer of assistance in Italy, taking into account local specificities to implement treatment paths closer to the families affected by the disease. illness”.
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