Socioeconomic status and quality of multiple sclerosis care in Sweden.

ABSTRACT

In Sweden's universal healthcare system, it is unknown whether people of higher socioeconomic status receive higher quality multiple sclerosis (MS) care. Using linked clinical and administrative data, we investigated the quality of care received by 4426 adults aged 23-60 with relapsing-remitting MS. In adjusted analyses, we demonstrated that higher premorbid educational attainment is associated with 4-12 % more frequent neurologist visits and MRI scans in the first four years post diagnosis, while higher premorbid income was associated with faster diagnosis-to-treatment times by 34-64 days. Neither education nor income were associated with time to diagnosis. This suggests that the more favourable MS outcomes observed for people of higher socioeconomic status may in part be related to higher quality care.