Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is divided into five types based on the age of onset and highest motor milestone achieved. To ease the burden of the disease, patients require a complex combination of multidisciplinary care. As a result, care can often be costly. This study, published in PharmacoEconomics, provides a literature review of the costs of healthcare associated with SMA.
Data for this study were gathered in 2019 and updated in 2021 to reflect recent studies. Multiple electronic databases were searched, and studies were chosen for inclusion based on the population, intervention, comparators, and outcomes (PICO) framework. A total of 49 studies were included, with data coming from 14 countries. It was found that Type 1 SMA had the highest costs and that costs tended to be lower in Europe than in the USA.
The researchers concluded that long-term robust studies are needed to gain a better understanding of the economic burden of the different types of SMA [1].
Source:
[1] Paracha, N., Hudson, P., Mitchell, S., & Sutherland, C. S. (2021). Systematic literature review to assess the cost and resource use associated with spinal muscular atrophy management. PharmacoEconomics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-021-01105-7
