OBJECTIVES

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the brain and spinal cord associating with a high economic burden. The objective of this study was to estimate the socio-economic burden of MS in Italy from National Health System (NHS) and Social Security System perspective.

METHODS

: The economic analysis was based both on the costs incurred by the NHS for hospitalizations, and costs due to the benefits provided by the National Social Security Institute (INPS). All hospitalizations from 2014 to 2018 in Italy with a diagnosis of MS were selected from Hospital Information System (HIS) database. Hospital costs were estimated considering the national DRG tariffs. Regarding the costs incurred by the INPS, social security benefits were considered, in particular Disability Benefit (DB) and Incapacity Pension (IP), and the Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA), that is a civil incapacity care benefit. Beneficiaries and costs of these benefits, induced by patients with MS between 2016 and 2019 in Italy, were estimated through a probabilistic model with a Monte Carlo simulation.

RESULTS

: Our study showed that hospitalizations for MS were 13,000 every year, causing a mean annual direct cost of almost € 28 million. Morevoer, the analysis estimated 10,200 beneficiaries of social security benefits (74% of DBs and 26% of IPs) on average every year, that involved an annual expenditure of € 107 million. Finally, the recipients of CAA were 4,900 per year, with a mean annual cost of € 30 million. The study estimated a total economic burden of over € 165 million per year from both the considered perspectives.

CONCLUSIONS

The study focused on the economic impact of MS in Italy due to hospitalizations, DBs, IPs and CAAs, taking into account two important perspective as well as cost items, highlighting an important impact of the costs borne by the social security system (about 80% of the total).