Biographical disruption associated with multiple sclerosis: using propensity scoring to assess the impact

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Health Economics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Chronic illnesses like multiple sclerosis (MS) cause 'biographical disruption', affecting life trajectories.
• Previous research on MS impacts often lacks comparison with the general population.
• Understanding MS-related social, economic, and emotional disruptions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess the social, economic, and emotional disruptions associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).
• To systematically compare households affected by MS with non-MS households.
• To quantify the prevalence of biographical disruptions like unemployment and relationship breakdown in people with MS versus the general population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the UK MS Society (n=916) and the British General Household Survey (2001/02).
• Employed propensity scoring to match MS and general population samples.
• Analyzed differences in household composition, marital status, income, and economic activity.

Main Results:

• People with MS are significantly less likely to be employed than the general population.
• Individuals with MS are more likely to have below-average household income, despite higher education and social class.
• Differences in marital status between groups became non-significant after controlling for socio-demographic variables.

Conclusions:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) significantly disrupts employment and household income.
• MS leads to quantifiable economic disadvantages compared to the general population.
• This study provides robust evidence on the life disruptions caused by MS.