Disability pension risk and time to first treatment in the SEP-RR

For one study, researchers sought to explore the association between the duration between disease onset and the start of therapy and the risk of receiving a disability pension. Patients who had their disease onset between January 1, 1996 and April 5, 2016 were followed until they received a disability pension or a concurrent risk/censorship event occurred. There were 7,859 patients who were assessed for eligibility, but the final cohort only included 5,208 participants. The following were considered essential requirements to participate in the study: a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis; a relapsing-remitting phenotype; a treatment history; age between 18 and 65; and an Expanded Disability Status Scale score less than or equal to 4. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on the time elapsed since the onset of their symptoms before they received their first treatment: early (before 1 year), intermediate (between 1 and 4 years), and late (from 4 to 8 years). About 1,922 of the 5,208 patients were considered early, 2,126 were considered intermediate, and 1,160 were considered late. Both clinical and socioeconomic characteristics at baseline were very evenly distributed. Cox regression estimates adjusted for clinical and socioeconomic confounders: middle (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.68) and late (HR, 1.97; CI at 95%, 1.55 to 2.51) of disease. In patients diagnosed with RRMS, starting treatment earlier was linked to a lower likelihood of later qualifying for a disability pension. The importance of early diagnosis and treatment on a patient-centered stage of socio-economic disability was demonstrated by this finding.

Sources – jnnp.bmj.com/content/93/8/858

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