Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

<h4>Background</h4>Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients earn lower incomes and receive higher benefits. However, there is limited knowledge of how this is correlated with their disability.<h4>Objective</h4>To elucidate sources and levels of income among MS patients with different...

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Main Authors: Andrius Kavaliunas, Michael Wiberg, Petter Tinghög, Anna Glaser, Hanna Gyllensten, Kristina Alexanderson, Jan Hillert
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145435&type=printable
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author Andrius Kavaliunas
Michael Wiberg
Petter Tinghög
Anna Glaser
Hanna Gyllensten
Kristina Alexanderson
Jan Hillert
author_facet Andrius Kavaliunas
Michael Wiberg
Petter Tinghög
Anna Glaser
Hanna Gyllensten
Kristina Alexanderson
Jan Hillert
author_sort Andrius Kavaliunas
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients earn lower incomes and receive higher benefits. However, there is limited knowledge of how this is correlated with their disability.<h4>Objective</h4>To elucidate sources and levels of income among MS patients with different disability, assessed with the Expanded Disability Status Scale.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 7929 MS patients aged 21-64 years and living in Sweden in 2010 were identified for this cross-sectional study. Descriptive statistics, logistic and truncated linear regression models were used to estimate differences between MS patients regarding earnings, disability pension, sickness absence, disability allowance, unemployment compensation, and social assistance.<h4>Results</h4>The average level of earnings was ten times lower and the average level of health- related benefits was four times higher when comparing MS patients with severe and mild disability. MS patients with severe disability had on average SEK 166,931 less annual income from earnings and SEK 54,534 more income from benefits compared to those with mild disability. The combined average income for MS patients was 35% lower when comparing patients in the same groups. The adjusted risk ratio for having earnings among MS patients with severe disability compared to the patients with mild disability was 0.33 (95% CI 0.29-0.39), while the risk ratio for having benefits was 1.93 (95% CI 1.90-1.94).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Disease progression affects the financial situation of MS patients considerably. Correlations between higher disability and patient income were observed, suggesting that earnings and benefits could be used as measures of MS progression and proxies of disability.
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spelling doaj-art-640d7fe598dc4de696ccb2952ccca8fc2025-08-20T03:10:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-011012e014543510.1371/journal.pone.0145435Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.Andrius KavaliunasMichael WibergPetter TinghögAnna GlaserHanna GyllenstenKristina AlexandersonJan Hillert<h4>Background</h4>Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients earn lower incomes and receive higher benefits. However, there is limited knowledge of how this is correlated with their disability.<h4>Objective</h4>To elucidate sources and levels of income among MS patients with different disability, assessed with the Expanded Disability Status Scale.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 7929 MS patients aged 21-64 years and living in Sweden in 2010 were identified for this cross-sectional study. Descriptive statistics, logistic and truncated linear regression models were used to estimate differences between MS patients regarding earnings, disability pension, sickness absence, disability allowance, unemployment compensation, and social assistance.<h4>Results</h4>The average level of earnings was ten times lower and the average level of health- related benefits was four times higher when comparing MS patients with severe and mild disability. MS patients with severe disability had on average SEK 166,931 less annual income from earnings and SEK 54,534 more income from benefits compared to those with mild disability. The combined average income for MS patients was 35% lower when comparing patients in the same groups. The adjusted risk ratio for having earnings among MS patients with severe disability compared to the patients with mild disability was 0.33 (95% CI 0.29-0.39), while the risk ratio for having benefits was 1.93 (95% CI 1.90-1.94).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Disease progression affects the financial situation of MS patients considerably. Correlations between higher disability and patient income were observed, suggesting that earnings and benefits could be used as measures of MS progression and proxies of disability.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145435&type=printable
spellingShingle Andrius Kavaliunas
Michael Wiberg
Petter Tinghög
Anna Glaser
Hanna Gyllensten
Kristina Alexanderson
Jan Hillert
Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
PLoS ONE
title Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
title_full Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
title_fullStr Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
title_full_unstemmed Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
title_short Earnings and Financial Compensation from Social Security Systems Correlate Strongly with Disability for Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
title_sort earnings and financial compensation from social security systems correlate strongly with disability for multiple sclerosis patients
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145435&type=printable
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