Behavioral economic demand for medications and its relation to clinical measures in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes a wide range of symptoms, which, if left untreated, worsen over time. Despite the availability of effective medications, however, many MS patients fail to take their medications. One possibility is that these patients fail to follow through on treatment recommendations because they do not value these treatments-despite their effectiveness. Prior studies have used principles of microeconomic demand to quantify subjects' valuation of commodities such as alcohol and cigarettes. The current study examined MS patients' microeconomic demand for effective treatments. Patients' willingness to purchase this effective medication was well described by behavioral economic models and was significantly related to MS knowledge and select components of adherence determination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).