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Despite the global decline in the standardized mortality rate of multiple sclerosis (MS), recent research on MS patient survival, especially in Taiwan, remains limited. This study aimed to investigate survival, mortality causes, and associated factors among MS patients in Taiwan. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used as the primary data source, and a Cox proportional hazard model was employed to estimate and analyze factors related to survival. We analyzed data from 1444 MS patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2018. Age at diagnosis was positively correlated with the risk of death. Among the 190 patients who died, the leading causes of disease-related deaths were nervous system diseases (n = 83, 43.68%), followed by respiratory system diseases and certain infectious and parasitic diseases. The 8-, 13-, and 18-year survival rates for MS patients were 0.97, 0.91, and 0.81, respectively. This study highlights that the MS patient’s socioeconomic status, environmental factors, comorbidity severity, and related medical variables were not significantly associated with survival.

Objective: Cervical cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer in women worldwide. It is vital to achieve a high cervical cancer screening rate among women. We compared the Pap smear test (PST) used between individuals with disabilities and those without disabilities in Taiwan. Methods: Individuals registered in the Taiwan Disability Registration File and the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) were screened for this nationally representative retrospective cohort study. Women aged 30 and above in 2016 and who were still alive in 2016 were matched in a 1:1 ratio via propensity score matching (PSM); 186,717 individuals with disabilities and 186,717 individuals without disabilities were included. Controlling for relevant variables, the odds of receiving PST were compared using conditional logistic regression analysis. Results: A lower percentage of individuals with disabilities (16.93%) received PST than those without disabilities (21.82%). The odds of individuals with disabilities receiving PST were 0.74 times that of individuals without disabilities (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.73–0.76). Compared to individuals without disabilities, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities had the lower odds of receiving PST (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.36–0.40), followed by individuals with dementia (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.33–0.48) or multiple disabilities (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.49–0.54). Conclusions: We highly recommend that healthcare practitioners recognize the unique needs of individuals with different types of disabilities, especially those with cognitive impairments.