OBJECTIVE: Study objective was to evaluate health care resource utilization and disease modifying treatment (DMT) use among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Sweden.

METHODS: Data came from four nationwide population-based registers with National Board of Health and Welfare and Statistics Sweden and linked by unique personal identity number. Patients with ≥1 diagnosis of MS (ICD-10 G35) were selected from 1/1/2001 to 12/30/2017 and date of first MS diagnosis was designated as index date. Individuals were followed from the index date until death or end of study period. One-year post-index, all-cause and MS-related healthcare resource use including inpatient admission and outpatient specialist visits were evaluated. Post-index utilization of approved DMTs throughout the study period were also examined.

RESULTS: A total of 26,219 patients with MS were identified between 2001 and 2017 with median follow-up of 9.79 (interquartile range= 4.80, 14.7) years. Mean (±SD) age at index date was 46.3 (±15.4) years; 68.9% were female. One-year post-index, 35.4% of patients had ≥1 all-cause inpatient admission; 30.0% had ≥ 1 MS-related admission (n=7,871), of which 15.3% had inpatient care longer than 1 month. About 96.6% of patients had ≥ 1 all-cause outpatient specialist visits; 90.3 had ≥1 MS-related specialist visits (n=23,677) and 8.4% had > 5 visits. About 44.5% of patients used DMT, and median initiation time from MS diagnosis to DMT use was 5.8 days (Q1-Q3: 0.95-41.5 days). Frequently used DMTs were interferon beta-1a (26.1%), glatiramer acetate (10.9%) and interferon beta-1b (9.4%).

CONCLUSION: Patients with MS incurred substantial health care resource one-year following MS diagnosis. About 44.5% patients were treated with an approved DMT. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the impact of different DMTs on outcomes such as health care resource use and associated costs.