About 75% of multiple sclerosis patients experience “financial toxicity” stemming from imaging and other services, which can result in avoidance of follow-up care, radiology researchers advised this week.
Such monetary hardship is determined by calculating how healthcare costs can snowball into further debt and bankruptcy. Oftentimes, MS patients confront substantial financial challenges from the high cost of treatment, disability and loss of income, experts noted.
Recently polling 243 adults with the disease, researchers found that 56% reported such a decrease in pay following their diagnosis. And 35% said they did not adhere to their imaging or medication orders, Emory University experts reported in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.
“Over the last 20 years, higher out-of-pocket costs for advanced imaging tests and increased cost sharing have caused the financial burdens on MS patients to escalate,” lead author Gelareh Sadigh, MD, an assistant radiology professor at the Atlanta institution, said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Among medically bankrupt families, MS is associated with the highest total out of-pocket expenditures exceeding those of cancer patients. Our study results demonstrate the high prevalence of financial toxicity for MS patients and the resulting decisions patients make that impact their healthcare and lifestyle.”
Sadigh and the Harvey L Neiman Health Policy Institute gathered their findings at a single neurology clinic between June 2018 and February 2019. They determined financial hardship using the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity, calculating a score range of 0-44, with the lower ending signaling greater struggles. Average COST score for those included landed at 17.4 ± 10.2. Nearly 67% of respondents said they altered their lifestyle based on financial burdens while 35% said they stopped adhering to their care regimen. Higher financial self-efficacy, meanwhile, was associated with lower toxicity, Sadigh and colleagues reported.
One takeaway from this analysis is the importance of preparing for such factors in your own practice, the team advised.
“These data underscore the need for shared decision-making and an awareness of patient financial strain when planning treatment strategies,” Emory University’s Richard Duszak, MD, a study co-author and Neiman Institute affiliate senior research fellow, said in the statement. “In addition to the impact on adherence, financial toxicity was associated with significantly lower physical health-related quality of life, demonstrating the broad consequences of treatment costs for many MS patients,” he added.
You can read the full analysis in MSJ here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.