The number of hospitalized patients with multiple sclerosis who received palliative care increased significantly from 2005 to 2014, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.
Researchers examined 10-year trends of palliative care and evaluated associations of this care with hospital utilization and cost using the 2005-2014 national inpatient sample. The national trends of palliative care utilization in MS patients increased by 120 times (from 0.2 percent to 6.1 percent) during the studied period.
Researchers also found hospital palliative care was linked to increased length of stay and in-hospital death but associated with decreased hospital charges.
"Patients with debilitating MS could benefit from palliative care perspectives both during relapses that lead to transient disability as well as later in the disease course when significant physical and cognitive disability have accrued," the researchers wrote.