Hospitalization Characteristics of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in the Clinical Center of Kragujevac

Introduction/Goal: The goal of this paper is to analyze the hospitalization patterns of MS patients in the central and western Serbiain terms of hospitalization days, average length of inpatient stay, hospitalization rate, rehospitalizationpractices and treatment outcomes. Method: The research is designed as a retrospective descriptive epidemiological study. The study uses hospitalization reports from the Clinical Center of Kragujevacfor the time period ranging from January, 2007–December, 2014. Results: The study has revealed that during the given time period, 1.109 MS patients were hospitalized (745 female and 364 male). Women were significantly more numerous (67.2%) (p<0.05).The average rate of hospitalization equaled 70.5 days per 100,000 citizens and was higher with women (94.8 per 100,000) than with men (45.4 per 100,000). The study has revealed a declining trend in hospitalization rates, inpatient days and average length of hospitalization. The number of standard inpatient days decreased while the number of hospitalizations in the day hospital increased (r =- 0,905, p=0.002). In terms of age, the study has revealed that the number of hospitalizations decreased and hospitalization length increased with age (p<0.05).There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between age and rehospitalization (r=-0.138, p=0.000).In respect to treatment outcomes, in 93% there was an improvement of the condition. Conclusion: The obtained results indicate that there is a need for establishing a register which could enable long-term monitoring of patients with MS which could eventually provide certain insights into the different aspects of the illness.