Social and professional consequences of COVID-19 lockdown in patients with multiple sclerosis from 2 very different populations

Zhang, G.-X.; Sanabria, C.; Martinez, D.; Zhang, W.-T.; Gao, S.-S.; Alemán, A.; Granja, A.; Páramo, C.; Borges, M.; Izquierdo, G.

The confinement due to the global COVID-19 pandemic has almost had negative consequences in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Objective We wanted to compare the socio-labor effect of confinement in two populations as different as Spain and China, in patients with MS. Method Questionnaires were applied to a group of MS patients who have been reviewed in the MS unit of the Vithas hospital (DINAC Foundation) in Seville, and MS patients attended in various provinces of China during the month of April 2020, with the aim of analyzing the differences and similarities of the socio-labor effect between both populations. To carry out this analysis, a database was created and subsequently analyzed. Results The Chinese population has a higher proportion of younger patients and there is no difference regarding gender. Most of the variables studied behaved the same way in both Spanish and Chinese MS patients. Spanish patients had less impact (30.7%) on their socio-economic situation than Chinese (44%), p < 0.05. There were no important differences in the rest of the variables between the two populations. Social networks were widely used in the majority of patients in both populations. Conclusions MS patients suffer in a very similar way from the consequences of the pandemic on their socio-labor situation and similarly use social networks and family support. Spanish patients seem to have more economic stability, which may be due to social economic support.