Abstract Details

Current treatment guidelines recommend initiation of high-efficacy disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for patients with highly active disease, as frequently seen with Black and Hispanic patients. However, little is known about the recent use of specific DMTs after diagnosis and how treatment patterns differ by race/ethnicity.

Patients newly diagnosed with MS in 2016–2018 were identified in Optum MarketClarity data (2015–2020). Patients were required to have continuous eligibility for 12 months before and 24 months after the first MS diagnosis and have initiated any DMT following diagnosis. Treatment patterns, including time to initiation of the first DMT, type of DMT and time receiving treatment, were analyzed descriptively overall and stratified by race/ethnicity.

Among 682 newly diagnosed patients, the mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 43 (12) years and 69% were female. The majority of patients were non-Hispanic White (70%) while 15% were non-Hispanic Black, 5% were Hispanic and 10% were other/unknown race/ethnicity. The mean (SD) time from diagnosis to initiation of any DMT was 148 (177) days, and results did not differ by race/ethnicity. Glatiramer acetate was the most frequently initiated first-line DMT across all races/ethnicities (32%), followed by dimethyl fumarate (18%) and ocrelizumab (17%). During the 24-month follow-up period, only 30% of non-Hispanic Black and 20% of Hispanic patients initiated any high-efficacy DMT compared with 39% of non-Hispanic White patients.