Economic Burden and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated neurological condition that imposes substantial economic and human costs worldwide. Beyond the direct medical expenses of diagnostics, hospital admissions and disease-modifying therapies, patients and families face indirect costs such as lost earnings, reduced work capacity and informal caregiving. As disability advances, resource utilisation escalates, driving up both personal and societal expenditure. Equally, the health-related quality of life in MS is compromised by physical impairments, cognitive dysfunction and social isolation. Patients often report lower functional well-being, emotional distress and diminished participation in daily activities. The interplay between economic burden and quality of life is bidirectional: rising costs can exacerbate psychological strain, while declines in quality of life may lead to greater healthcare use and further financial pressure. Real-world surveys and cost-of-illness studies highlight regional variations in care delivery, treatment uptake and out-of-pocket spending, underlining the need for policy responses that integrate clinical management with social support. Practical applications of this body of work include the design of resource-efficient care pathways, early intervention strategies to delay disability progression and standardised instruments that enable cross-national comparisons of both economic impact and patient-centred outcomes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A large cross-sectional survey in China has mapped the full spectrum of direct medical, non-medical and indirect costs stratified by disease severity. Patients with more advanced disability incurred markedly higher rates of hospital admissions, outpatient consultations and diagnostic procedures, alongside significant losses in work productivity. Conversely, uptake of disease-modifying therapies was greater in those with milder disease, suggesting a treatment gap in more disabled cohorts. These findings reveal substantial unmet needs and indicate that earlier or broader access to effective therapies could mitigate downstream costs and alleviate societal burden.

Economic Burden and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in economic burden and quality of life in multiple sclerosis across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Disease-modifying therapy (DMT): Treatment aimed at altering the underlying disease process in multiple sclerosis to slow progression.
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL): A multidimensional measure of a patient’s perceived physical, psychological and social well-being.
Cost-of-illness (COI): An economic analysis quantifying the direct and indirect financial impact of a disease on society.
Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS): A standardised scale from 0 (normal neurological function) to 10 (death due to MS) used to assess disease severity.
Indirect costs: Economic losses resulting from reduced work productivity, informal caregiving and other non-medical consequences of illness.

References

1. Healthcare resource utilization and economic burden of multiple sclerosis in Chinese patients: results from a real-world survey. Scientific Reports (2024).
2. Cost of Illness of Multiple Sclerosis - A Systematic Review. PLOS ONE (2016).
3. Economic burden of multiple sclerosis in a population with low physical disability. BMC Public Health (2019).
4. Health-related quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients: a European multi-country study. Archives of Public Health (2021).