The temporal trends of palliative care use in inpatients with multiple sclerosis (MS) gradually increased with an exponential increase between 2010 and 2011 during 2005–2014, which is mostly attributed to patients with higher risk of in-hospital death, according to a recent study. Moreover, palliative care was associated with reduced hospital charge with increased length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital death. Researchers examined 10-year temporal trends of palliative care and assessed independent associations of palliative care with hospital utilization and cost using the 2005–2014 national inpatient sample. They found:

• The national trends of palliative care utilization in patients with MS increased by 120 times from 0.2% to 6.1% during 2005–2014, particularly with the dramatic single-year increase between 2010 (1.5%) and 2011 (4.5%).
• Moreover, the proportion of receiving palliative care in in-hospital death gradually increased from 7.7% in 2005 to 58.8% in 2014.
• Palliative care in MS inpatients may affect hospital utilization and charges in different ways.
• Hospital palliative care was associated with increased LOS (β = 0.444 days) and in-hospital death (OR = 15.35), but associated with decreased hospital charges (β = −$2,261).