Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38062507›Full record

ArticleOrphanet journal of rare diseases2023

Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey.

Stephen Morris, Julie Vallortigara, Julie Greenfield, Barry Hunt, Deborah Hoffman, Carola Reinhard, Holm Graessner, Antonio Federico, Vinciane Quoidbach, Paola Giunti

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Orphanet journal of rare diseases, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Ataxia patient care pathway and associated healthcare costs in Italy: a cross-sectional survey.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Friedreich's ataxia patient pathway in Europe.Frontiers in health services · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Hereditary Ataxias in Argentina.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.

Stephen MorrisPrimary Care Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, East Forvie Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, UK. sm2428@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
Julie VallortigaraAtaxia Centre, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Department of Molecular and Movement Neurosciences, University College London, Queen Square House, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
Julie GreenfieldAtaxia UK, London, UK.
Barry HuntAtaxia UK, London, UK.
Deborah HoffmanTakeda Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Carola ReinhardCentre for Rare Diseases and Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Holm GraessnerCentre for Rare Diseases and Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Antonio FedericoDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, Medical School, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Vinciane QuoidbachEuropean Brain Council, Brussels, Belgium.
Paola GiuntiAtaxia Centre, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Department of Molecular and Movement Neurosciences, University College London, Queen Square House, London, WC1N 3BG, UK. p.giunti@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3508-4788
Ataxia UK · GBUniversity of Tübingen · DENational Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery · GBQueen Mary University of London · GBTakeda (United States) · USUniversity of Cambridge · GBUniversity of Siena · IT

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/N028767/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLittle is known about the costs of treating ataxia and whether treatment at a specialist ataxia centre affects the cost of care. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients who attended specialist ataxia centres in three European countries reported differences in their health care use and costs compared with patients who did not attend a specialist ataxia centre. We compared mean resource use and health service costs per patient affected by ataxia in the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany over a 12-month period. Data were obtained from a survey distributed to people with ataxia in the three countries. We compared mean resource use for each contact type and costs, stratifying patients by whether they were currently attending a specialist ataxia centre or had never attended one.

resultsResponses were received from 181 patients from the United Kingdom, 96 from Italy and 43 from Germany. Differences in the numbers of contacts for most types of health service use between the specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups were non-significant. In the United Kingdom the mean total cost per patient was €2209 for non-specialist ataxia centre patients and €1813 for specialist ataxia centre patients (P = 0.59). In Italy these figures were €2126 and €1971, respectively (P = 0.84). In Germany they were €2431 and €4087, respectively (P = 0.19). Inpatient stays made the largest contribution to total costs.

conclusionsWithin each country, resource use and costs were broadly similar for specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups. There were differences between countries in terms of health care contacts and costs.

Indexed as

Health ServicesPatient Acceptance of Health CareAtaxiaCross-Sectional StudiesEuropeHealth Care CostsHumansAtaxiaCostsHealth service useSpecialist centre

Identifiers

PMID38062507
PMCPMC10704806
OpenAlexW4389432846

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.