Disparity between perceived needs and service provision: a cross-sectional study of Italians with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Assessing the coverage by public or private resources in meeting health-related and social-related needs may be useful for service planning and guide optimization of care, important especially in view of an increase in the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: An ad hoc questionnaire assessed satisfaction of health-related and social care-related needs in a cross-sectional study of 1014 people with MS identified through MS outpatient clinics and local branches and social media channels of the Italian MS Society.

Results: 87.1% and 79.8% of the responders had experienced at least one health-related or social-related need, respectively. The study demonstrated significant gaps between perceived needs and service provision. Rehabilitation, residential care, and psychological support were most frequently unsatisfied health-related needs, while the more commonly unmet social-related needs were financial support, elimination of architectural barriers, workplace adaptations, and career guidance. The multivariate analysis highlighted that the satisfaction of health-related needs was primarily associated with geographic area of residence. Social-related needs correlated with both clinical and sociodemographic aspects.

Conclusion: The results provide insight into the range of interventions, care, and support people with MS report to be important to them at different points in their disease trajectory. More emphasis should be put on the inequitable distribution of NHS services in different geographic areas of Italy as well as on particularly fragile subgroups of the MS population (older individuals, and those with higher levels of disability) because the care of these individuals continues to be assumed by the family.