THE DIRECT COSTS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IN A GROUP OF COLOMBIAN PATIENTS

Abstract

Objectives Estimate the direct costs of multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients from a high complexity institution from Bogotá.

Methods Patients with MS diagnosis attended from 2015 to 2017 were identified from institutional registries. Data for sociodemographic characteristics and health resources utilization was extracted from electronic medical records. Direct costs were estimated using a top-down approach from the third-party payer perspective. Consumer Price Index adjusted direct costs were estimated for every identified cost generating event and are presented as 2018 Colombian Peso (COP). All information on services provided until 2018 was extracted.

Results A total of 96 patients were included. MS is present with a 3-4 to 1 females-male ratio (75 [78%] females and 21 [22%] males) and is more frequent in patients aged 60 to 64 years (16,7%). Direct costs for the hole period were COP 1.122.018.872. 2015 direct costs of MS were COP 345.310.459, for 2016 were COP 410.320.274, for 2017 COP 239.691.557 and COP 126.696.582 for services consumed in 2018. Pharmacological therapies (PT) were the main driver of direct costs, 39,6% of the total (COP 491.200.476). Humanized accounts for 51,4% of PT costs, followed by Disease Modifiers and Corticoids. Next, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance was the second direct costs driver (15,8%), with plasmapheresis (12,1%) and hospital instay (12,1%) accounting for similar proportions of the total.

Conclusions MS has a major impact in health-care resources consumption in Colombian health system. Results from this study are in line with those from other regions where a differential origin in costs have been seen, with PT and in hospital services being the main drivers for expenditure pertaining to direct costs. This result allows the complexity of costs determinants in MS to flourish as an opportunity to study and plan measures to improve health-care delivery to patients.