Multiple sclerosis in Germany: data analysis of administrative prevalence and healthcare delivery in the statutory health system

Abstract

BackgroundHealthcare-utilization data for multiple sclerosis (MS) are scarce in Germany. The Purpose of the study was to analyse administrative prevalence of MS, medication use and type of specialists involved in MS treatment in the outpatient setting in Bavaria.MethodsPseudonymized claims data from Bavarian Statutory Health Insurance (SHI)-accredited physicians were used. Administrative prevalence of MS was defined as having ≥1 MS diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, code G35) documented by a neurologist or psychiatrist, or ≥1 prescription for disease-modifying drugs (DMDs)). The administrative prevalence calculated for Bavaria was projected to Germany. DMD prescription and involvement of different specialities in health care service for MS patients was analysed.ResultsAdministrative prevalence of MS in Bavaria increased from 0.123% to 0.175% of insured persons between 2005 and 2009; when projected, this yielded ~102,000–143,000 patients with MS in the German population. The percentage of patients receiving ≥1 DMD prescription increased from 45.5% to 50.5%. Patients with MS were mainly treated by neurologists in the ambulatory care setting.ConclusionsThese results provide important information on the administrative prevalence of MS in Bavaria and on healthcare provision for patients, which is relevant for resource planning in the healthcare sector.

New insights into the burden and costs of multiple sclerosis in Europe: Results for Germany

“…6,7 This could be due to a bias in our sample, and also to a possibly more widespread usage in recent years, with a larger number of DMTs to choose from. An indication of this might be that 45% of patients were on DMTs that were licensed within the past 10 years (second-generation treatment).…”

“…Petersen et al 6 found that nearly 200,000 people insured in the statutory health insurance had a diagnosis of MS in 2010, while an analysis of administrative claims data in Bayern found that prevalence had increased from 0.123% to 0.175% between 2005 and 2009. 7 With diagnosis already possible after a clinically isolated event, 3 one must also expect a different distribution of the type of MS and the severity of the disease compared to a decade ago: a larger proportion of patients with relapsing-remitting disease and thus of patients in the early stages of the disease with less disability.…”

Living with Multiple Sclerosis in Europe: Pharmacological Treatments, Cost of Illness, and Health-Related Quality of Life Across Countries

“…In the last 5 years, a large number of studies have come out of Germany (about 2063 studies). Despite this, health care utilization data and analyses for MS are still scarce (45). Some studies (46) were related to the effects of new treatments such as alemtuzumab on safety, effectiveness, and HRQoL.…”

Therapie der Multiplen Sklerose

“…Die Inanspruchnahme von Arzneimitteln für die verlaufsmodifizierende Therapie wird im Bereich zwischen 41,5 % bis 71,0 % der beobachteten Patienten mit MS beziffert (Flachenecker et al 2008;Hapfelmeier et al 2013;Höer et al 2014). Diese Angaben beziehen sich auf Patienten ungeachtet der Verlaufsform oder der Krankheitsaktivität, sodass die Unterschiede unter anderem auch durch ein unterschiedliches Patientenkollektiv zu erklären sind.…”