A study of Multiple Sclerosis(MS) in Trinidad and Tobago is currently ongoing at the Centre for Health Economics at UWI. The study aims to understand the quality of life of MS Patients in Trinidad and Tobago using new developments in health outcomes research, a field that combines medicine and economics and specializes in measuring and understanding health. This study has received pertinent approvals from UWI and the Ministry of Health.
With the support of our clinical research partner Dr. Avidesh Panday, Neurologist at NCRHA, patients are completing a questionnaire that provides insight into the effect that MS has on their day to day life, and how they access healthcare. The same questionnaire is also being completed by a matching sample of people who do not have MS. This will provide a reference group against which the results from the MS group can be compared. Neurologists and care-givers are also being interviewed.
This study will help health system administrators to understand the day-to-day challenges that face MS patients and to find new ways to help patients.
While the study is still ongoing, some preliminary results show that stress is a major trigger of MS symptoms for MS patients in Trinidad and Tobago. Pain interferes with normal activities much more for MS patients than for the general (non-MS) population. Generally for T&T patients, physical health is more likely than emotional state to affect work performance among MS patients. However, MS patients who have a supportive domestic environment also seem to have better health outcomes.
The study should be completed by
September 2022.
Dr. Henry Bailey PhD, is a lecturer at the Department of Economics at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine. His primary research interests are in the area of health outcomes measurement and methods of technology assessment in healthcare for developing countries health systems.