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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Jul 28;17(7):e0272156.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272156. eCollection 2022.

Spatial and temporal distribution of the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement in people with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Bruno Kusznir Vitturi  1 , Alborz Rahmani  1   2 , Guglielmo Dini  1   2 , Alfredo Montecucco  1   2 , Nicoletta Debarbieri  2 , Paolo Bandiera  3 , Mario Alberto Battaglia  4   5 , Tommaso Manacorda  4 , Benedetta Persechino  6 , Giuliana Buresti  6 , Michela Ponzio  4 , Matilde Inglese  7   8 , Paolo Durando  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Spatial and temporal distribution of the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement in people with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Bruno Kusznir Vitturi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: We aimed to summarise the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement among people with MS and analyze data according to a spatio-temporal perspective.

Methods: We undertook a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, SciVerse ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. We included any peer-reviewed original article reporting the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement in the working-age population with MS. We excluded articles off-topic, with other study designs, whose study sample were unlikely to be representative of the MS population and in case of unavailability of the full text or essential information. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to measure overall prevalence estimates of unemployment and early retirement. We used meta-regression and subgroup analysis to evaluate potential moderators of prevalence estimates and the leave-one-out method for sensitivity analyses.

Results: Our research identified 153 studies across 29 countries encompassing 188436 subjects with MS. The pooled overall effect size for unemployment and early retirement was 35.6% (95% CI 32.8-38.4; I2 = 99.31) and 17.2% (95% CI 14.6-20.2; I2 = 99.13), respectively. The prevalence of unemployment varied according to the year of publication (p < 0.001) and there was a statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of unemployment over time (p = 0.042). Regarding early retirement, only seven (31.8%) estimates obtained from studies that were published before 2010 were below the overall effect size in comparison to 27 (60.0%) estimates extracted from data published between 2010 and 2021 (p = 0.039). There was a significant difference in prevalence according to countries (p < 0.001). Psychiatric illness was an important clinical feature responsible for patients leaving the workforce in regions with a high MS prevalence.

Conclusions: Unemployment and early retirement due to MS remain highly prevalent, despite a slight decline in the last decade. The prevalence of unemployment and early retirement varies globally.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA flowchart.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Meta-regression (random-effects model) of the prevalence of unemployment according to time.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Meta-regression (random-effects model) of the prevalence of unemployment according to the use of DMDs (%).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Prevalence of unemployment (%) according to geographical location.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Prevalence of early retirement (%) according to geographical location.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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