Early treatment of multiple sclerosis and its accompanying economic effects on public health

Background: Meanwhile, a number of drugs are available for the course-modif ying therapy of multiple sclerosis. Their use depends on the individual ind ication as well as on the patient's compliance, but also increasingly on th e economic considerations of the public health system. For years, the costs of multiple sclerosis and the critically evaluated cost-benefit analyses w ere based on estimated figures. Patients and Methods: For better transparency of the actual costs of the di sease, a cross-sectional study of multiple sclerosis patients was performed for the first time in Germany, where the patients answered questionnaires as to their financial resources and quality of life. Within this representa tive framework of questionnaires, data of 737 patients were evaluated. Results: This study came up with a total cost of DM 65,400.- per patient an d year. The complete costs of multiple sclerosis, based on an estimated num ber of 120,000 patients, thus run up to 7.85 bio. DM a year, Only a small p ercentage is caused by medication (7%), including the use of new extremely expensive drugs. There is a positive correlation between the severity of th e disease and the underlying costs of treatment. Conclusion: Due to these results, concrete health-economic goals in the tre atment of patients with multiple sclerosis should aim at stabilization on a low disability level at an early stage of the disease.