Costs of Formal and Informal Home Care and Quality of Life for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Sweden

Disease progression in multiple sclerosis leads to dramatic changes in a person's ability to perform daily activities and increases reliance on external help. This study aims to describe and to estimate costs of formal/informal home care and quality of life related to multiple sclerosis. A mail...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Svensson, Marianne, Fajutrao, Liberty
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3960744/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24729875
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/529878
Descripción
Sumario:Disease progression in multiple sclerosis leads to dramatic changes in a person's ability to perform daily activities and increases reliance on external help. This study aims to describe and to estimate costs of formal/informal home care and quality of life related to multiple sclerosis. A mailed survey to a random sample of MS sufferers (n = 1500) collected data on the number of hours of home care received, type of help, productivity losses, quality of life, and disease characteristics. Costs for home care were estimated in 2012 € and factors that may influence the likelihood of getting home care were also evaluated. Formal care was given to 27% of the respondents (n = 839) at an average of 238.7 hrs/month at a mean monthly cost of €2873/person with MS. Informal care was received by 49% of the respondents at an average of 47.3 hrs/month at a mean monthly cost of €389/person with MS. Utilities across disease severity are as follows: mild MS = 0.709 (sd = 0.233), moderate MS = 0.562 (sd = 0.232), and severe MS = 0.284 (sd = 0.283). Total home care costs increased with increasing disease severity. Informal caregiving contributes significantly to MS home care in Sweden.