Resource utilisation, costs and clinical outcomes in non-institutionalised patients with Alzheimer's disease: 18-month UK results from the GERAS observational study

Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders among the elderly. The global cost of dementia is expected to reach US $2 trillion in 2030. In this systematic review, existing evidence on the cost of dementia specific to AD is appraised.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was done on 3 databases, namely PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science, to identify original cost-of-illness studies that only evaluate the economic burden of AD up to August 2022. The risk of bias in the studies was assessed using Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards 2022 criteria. Cost articles without specifying etiology of AD or those in non-English were excluded.

RESULTS

Twelve of 5536 studies met the inclusion criteria. The total annual cost of AD per capita ranged from US $468.28 in mild AD to US $171 283.80 in severe AD. The cost of care raised nonlinearly with disease severity. Indirect caregiving cost represented the main contributor to societal cost in community-dwelling patients. When special caregiving accommodation was opted in daily care, it results in cost shifting from indirect cost to direct nonmedical cost. Formal caregiving accommodation caused increase in direct cost up to 67.3% of overall economic burden of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS

AD exerts a huge economic burden on patients and caregivers. Overall rise of each cost component could be anticipated with disease deterioration. Choice of special caregiving accommodation could reduce caregiver's productivity loss but increase the direct nonmedical expenditure of the disease from societal perspective.

The Costs of Dementia in Europe: An Updated Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The prevalence of dementia is increasing, while new opportunities for diagnosing, treating and possibly preventing Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders are placing focus on the need for accurate estimates of costs in dementia. Considerable methodological heterogeneity creates challenges for synthesising the existing literature. This study aimed to estimate the costs for persons with dementia in Europe, disaggregated into cost components and informative patient subgroups.

METHODS

We conducted an updated literature review searching PubMed, Embase and Web of Science for studies published from 2008 to July 2021 reporting empirically based cost estimates for persons with dementia in European countries. We excluded highly selective or otherwise biased reports, and used a random-effects meta-analysis to produce estimates of mean costs of care across five European regions.

RESULTS

Based on 113 studies from 17 European countries, the estimated mean costs for all patients by region were highest in the British Isles (73,712 EUR), followed by the Nordics (43,767 EUR), Southern (35,866 EUR), Western (38,249 EUR), and Eastern Europe and Baltics (7938 EUR). Costs increased with disease severity, and the distribution of costs over informal and formal care followed a North-South gradient with Southern Europe being most reliant on informal care.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this study represents the most extensive meta-analysis of the cost for persons with dementia in Europe to date. Though there is considerable heterogeneity across studies, much of this is explained by identifiable factors. Further standardisation of methodology for capturing resource utilisation data may further improve comparability of future studies. The cost estimates presented here may be of value for cost-of-illness studies and economic evaluations of novel diagnostic technologies and therapies for Alzheimer's disease.

A Literature Review on the Burden of Alzheimer's Disease on Care Partners

BACKGROUND

Many individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are dependent on nonprofessional care partners. Providing informal care can result in emotional, physical, and financial burdens; however, there is a need for a better understanding of the impact of AD on care partners to support the clinical and economic assessment of potential new treatments.

OBJECTIVE

We conducted a literature review to evaluate the burden experienced by care partners of individuals with AD.

METHODS

Electronic screening and supplementary searches identified studies published from 2011 to 2022 describing the association between AD and the quality of life (QoL) and physical health of care partners, and the economic or financial burden of AD.

RESULTS

Following electronic screening, 62, 25, and 39 studies were included on care partner burden, cost, and healthcare resource use in AD, respectively. Supplementary searches identified an additional 32 studies, resulting in 149 unique studies. These studies showed that care partners of individuals with AD report moderate to severe burden. Higher burden and lower QoL were observed in those caring for individuals with more severe AD. Care partners of individuals with AD experience higher burden, lower QoL, and higher levels of stress, depression, and anxiety than those without caring responsibilities. Informal care costs increased with AD severity and accounted for the greatest proportion of overall societal cost.

CONCLUSIONS

Care partners of individuals with AD experience emotional and economic burden, which increases with AD severity. These impacts should be quantified comprehensively in future studies and captured in economic evaluations of AD interventions.

The Humanistic and Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of cognitive impairment and dementia in older individuals (aged ≥ 65 years) throughout the world. As a result of these progressive deficits in cognitive, emotional, and physical function, AD dementia can cause functional disability and loss of independence. To gain a deeper understanding of the recent literature on the burden of AD, including that of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, we conducted a comprehensive targeted review of the PubMed-indexed literature (2014 to 2021) to examine the humanistic and economic burden of AD (including MCI) in North America, Europe, and Asia. Our literature review identified a range of factors associated with quality of life (QoL): some factors were positively associated with QoL, including caregiver relationship, religiosity, social engagement, and ability to engage in activities of daily living (ADL), whereas other factors such as neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with poorer QoL. While patient- and proxy-rated QoL are highly correlated in patients with early AD dementia, proxy-rated QoL declines more substantially as severity worsens. The maintenance of self-reported QoL in patients with more severe AD dementia may be due to lack of awareness or to adaptation to circumstances. Compared to persons with normal cognition, MCI is associated with a greater cost burden, and individuals with MCI exhibit worse QoL. Key drivers of the societal economic burden of AD include disease severity, dependence level, institutionalization, and comorbidity burden. Evaluation of the impact of a hypothetical disease-modifying treatment delaying the progression from MCI to AD has suggested that such a treatment may result in cost savings.

Economic and caregiver impact of Alzheimer's disease across the disease spectrum: a cohort study

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) substantially increases health-related costs. This study investigates direct medical costs and characterizes the caregiver burden across AD stages.

METHODS

This study analyzed data from the French Primary Health Insurance Fund claims database and reflected this public payer perspective. Outpatients (N = 1998) visiting a memory clinic at Lyon University Hospital in France between 2014 and 2019 were included. Real healthcare costs (ie, ambulatory medicine, paramedical care, pharmaceutical treatment, public and private hospital stays, and medical transportation) were collected for patients 1 year prior to the date of the first memory visit and 2 years following the first visit (reference year: 2019). Patients were grouped based on a clinical diagnosis of cognitively normal with a subjective cognitive complaint (SCC), all-cause mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or AD dementia. The severity of AD dementia was defined by the Mini-Mental State Examination score. Caregiver burden was measured using the mini Zarit Burden Interview. A generalized linear model was used for statistical analyses. Other patient nonmedical and indirect costs and caregiver costs were not included.

RESULTS

The study sample included patients with SCC (n = 640), MCI (n = 630), mild (n = 212), moderate (n = 256), or moderately severe/severe AD dementia (n = 260). One year after the first consultation, mean total costs were higher with progressive cognitive deficit, with little difference between dementia groups (SCC = €8028; MCI = €9758; mild AD dementia = €10,558; moderate AD dementia = €10,544; moderately severe/severe AD dementia = €10,345; P < .001). Public hospital stays comprised the majority of direct medical costs during the first semester following the visit (49.4% of the total costs), regardless of the severity of cognitive deficit. Caregiver burden increased with the severity of cognitive deficit (P < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Direct medical costs and caregiver burden rose from SCC to AD dementia; in patients with AD dementia, the direct medical costs increased over the 2 years after the first consultation. These results, in conjunction with data from other care components, will be critical to elucidate the potential economic value of a therapeutic intervention that slows AD progression.

Health economic modeling for Alzheimer's disease: Expert perspectives

The successful development of an economic model for the evaluation of future Alzheimer's disease (AD) interventions is critical to accurately inform policy makers and payers. As our understanding of AD expands, this becomes an increasingly complex and challenging goal. Advances in diagnostic techniques for AD and the prospect of disease-modifying treatments raise an urgent need to define specifications for future economic models and to ensure that the necessary data to populate them are available. This Perspective article provides expert opinions from health economists and governmental agency representatives on how future economic models for AD might be structured, validated, and reported. We aim to stimulate much-needed discussion about the detailed specification of future health economic models for AD.

The Use and Costs of Paid and Unpaid Care for People with Dementia: Longitudinal Findings from the IDEAL Cohort

BACKGROUND

The drivers of costs of care for people with dementia are not well understood and little is known on the costs of care for those with rarer dementias.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize use and costs of paid and unpaid care over time in a cohort of people with dementia living in Britain. To explore the relationship between cohort members' demographic and clinical characteristics and service costs.

METHODS

We calculated costs of health and social services, unpaid care, and out-of-pocket expenditure for people with mild-to-moderate dementia participating in three waves of the IDEAL cohort (2014- 2018). Latent growth curve modelling investigated associations between participants' baseline sociodemographic and diagnostic characteristics and mean weekly service costs.

RESULTS

Data were available on use of paid and unpaid care by 1,537 community-dwelling participants with dementia at Wave 1, 1,199 at Wave 2, and 910 at Wave 3. In models of paid service costs, being female was associated with lower baseline costs and living alone was associated with higher baseline costs. Dementia subtype and caregiver status were associated with variations in baseline costs and the rate of change in costs, which was additionally influenced by age.

CONCLUSION

Lewy body and Parkinson's disease dementias were associated with higher service costs at the outset, and Lewy body and frontotemporal dementias with more steeply increasing costs overall, than Alzheimer's disease. Planners of dementia services should consider the needs of people with these relatively rare dementia subtypes as they may require more resources than people with more prevalent subtypes.

Total cost of care increases significantly from early to mild Alzheimer's disease: 5-year ALSOVA follow-up

INTRODUCTION

We studied the costs of formal and informal care in relation to Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression.

METHODS

231 persons with AD with a family caregiver were followed up for 5 years. The Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) was used to measure AD progression. Health and social care unit costs were used for formal care costs. An opportunity cost method for lost leisure time was applied to analyse the cost of informal care.

RESULTS

Total cost of care in early stage AD (CDR-SB ≤ 4) was 16,448€ (95% CI 13,722-19,716) annually. In mild (CDR-SB 4.5-9), moderate (CDR-SB 9.5-15.5) and severe (CDR-SB ≥ 16) AD, the total costs were 2.3, 3.4 and 4.4 times higher, respectively. A one-unit increase in CDR-SB increased the total, formal and informal costs by 15, 11 and 18%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to early AD, the costs of total, formal and informal care are remarkably higher already in mild AD. This finding emphasises early diagnosis, interventions and family support for persons with AD and their caregivers.

Costs and resource use of community-dwelling patients with Alzheimer's disease in Japan: 18-month results from the GERAS-J study

OBJECTIVE

To determine the longitudinal societal costs and burden of community-dwelling patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their caregivers in Japan.

METHODS

GERAS-J was an 18-month, prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), patients routinely visiting memory clinics were stratified into groups based on AD severity at baseline (mild, moderate, and moderately severe/severe [MS/S]). Healthcare resource utilization and caregiver burden were assessed using the Resource Utilization in Dementia and Zarit "Caregiver" Burden Interview questionnaires, respectively. Total monthly societal costs were estimated using Japan-specific unit costs of services and products (patient direct healthcare use, patient social care use, and informal caregiving time).

RESULTS

Overall, 553 patients (156 mild; 209 moderate; 188 MS/S) were enrolled. MMSE scores declined (1.73, 1.38, and 0.95 points for the mild, moderate, and MS/S AD groups, respectively) and caregiver burden and resource utilization increased over 18 months in each of the AD severity groups. Cumulative total societal costs per patient over 18 months were 3.1, 3.8, and 5.3 million Japanese yen (29,006, 35,662, and 49,725 USD) for mild, moderate, and MS/S AD, respectively. Both patient social care costs and caregiver informal care costs increased with baseline disease severity, with >50% of total costs due to caregiver informal care in each disease severity subgroup.

CONCLUSIONS

Total treatment costs increased with AD severity over 18 months due to increases in both patient social care costs and caregiver informal care costs. Our data suggest current social care services in Japan are insufficient to alleviate the negative impact of AD on caregiver burden.

Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's Disease Is Not Associated with APOE

BACKGROUND

The rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been found to vary widely between individuals, with numerous factors driving this heterogeneity.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to compute a measure of cognitive decline in patients with AD based on clinical information and to utilize this measure to explore the genetic architecture of cognitive decline in AD.

METHODS

An in-house cohort of 616 individuals, hereby termed the Cardiff Genetic Resource for AD, as well as a subset of 577 individuals from the publicly available ADNI dataset, that have been assessed at multiple timepoints, were used in this study. Measures of cognitive decline were computed using various mixed effect linear models of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). After an optimal model was selected, a metric of cognitive decline for each individual was estimated as the random slope derived from this model. This metric was subsequently used for testing the association of cognitive decline with apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype.

RESULTS

No association was found between the number of APOEɛ2 or ɛ4 alleles and the rate of cognitive decline in either of the datasets examined.

CONCLUSION

Further exploration is required to uncover possible genetic variants that affect the rate of decline in patients with AD.

Tip of the Iceberg: Assessing the Global Socioeconomic Costs of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and Strategic Implications for Stakeholders

While it is generally understood that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) is one of the costliest diseases to society, there is widespread concern that researchers and policymakers are not comprehensively capturing and describing the full scope and magnitude of the socioeconomic burden of ADRD. This review aimed to 1) catalogue the different types of AD-related socioeconomic costs described in the literature; 2) assess the challenges and gaps of existing approaches to measuring these costs; and 3) analyze and discuss the implications for stakeholders including policymakers, healthcare systems, associations, advocacy groups, clinicians, and researchers looking to improve the ability to generate reliable data that can guide evidence-based decision making. A centrally emergent theme from this review is that it is challenging to gauge the true value of policies, programs, or interventions in the ADRD arena given the long-term, progressive nature of the disease, its insidious socioeconomic impact beyond the patient and the formal healthcare system, and the complexities and current deficiencies (in measures and real-world data) in accurately calculating the full costs to society. There is therefore an urgent need for all stakeholders to establish a common understanding of the challenges in evaluating the full cost of ADRD and define approaches that allow us to measure these costs more accurately, with a view to prioritizing evidence-based solutions to mitigate this looming public health crisis.

Caring for the elderly: A person-centered segmentation approach for exploring the association between health care needs, mental health care use, and costs in Germany

BACKGROUND

Person-centered care demands the evaluation of needs and preferences of the patients. In this study, we conducted a segmentation analysis of a large sample of older people based on their bio-psycho-social-needs and functioning. The aim of this study was to clarify differences in health care use and costs of the elderly in Germany.

METHODS

Data was derived from the 8-year follow-up of the ESTHER study-a German epidemiological study of the elderly population. Trained medical doctors visited n = 3124 participants aged 57 to 84 years in their home. Bio-psycho-social health care needs were assessed using the INTERMED for the Elderly (IM-E) interview. Further information was measured using questionnaires or assessment scales (Barthel index, Patients Health Questionnaire (PHQ) etc.). The segmentation analysis applied a factor mixture model (FMM) that combined both a confirmatory factor analysis and a latent class analysis.

RESULTS

In total, n = 3017 persons were included in the study. Results of the latent class analysis indicated that a five-cluster-model best fit the data. The largest cluster (48%) can be described as healthy, one cluster (13.9%) shows minor physical complaints and higher social support, while the third cluster (24.3%) includes persons with only a few physical and psychological difficulties ("minor physical and psychological complaints"). One of the profiles (10.5%) showed high and complex bio-psycho-social health care needs ("complex needs") while another profile (2.5%) can be labelled as "frail". Mean values of all psychosomatic variables-including the variable health care costs-gradually increased over the five clusters. Use of mental health care was comparatively low in the more burdened clusters. In the profiles "minor physical and psychological complaints" and "complex needs", only half of the persons suffering from a mental disorder were treated by a mental health professional; in the frail cluster, only a third of those with a depression or anxiety disorder received mental health care.

CONCLUSIONS

The segmentation of the older people of this study sample led to five different clusters that vary profoundly regarding their bio-psycho-social needs. Results indicate that elderly persons with complex bio-psycho-social needs do not receive appropriate mental health care.

Use and costs of services and unpaid care for people with mild-to-moderate dementia: Baseline results from the IDEAL cohort study

Introduction

We examined 3-month service use and costs of care for people with mild-to-moderate dementia in Great Britain.

Methods

We analyzed Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life cohort study baseline data on paid care, out-of-pocket expenditure, and unpaid care from participants with dementia (N = 1547) and their carers (N = 1283). In regression analyses, we estimated per-group mean costs of diagnostic and sociodemographic subgroups.

Results

Use of services apart from primary and outpatient hospital care was low. Unpaid care accounted for three-quarters of total costs (mean, £4008 [standard error, £130] per participant). Most participants (87%) received unpaid care equating to 36 hours weekly. Estimated costs for people with Parkinson's dementia were £8609, £4359 for participants with mixed dementia, and £3484 for those with Alzheimer's disease. Total costs were lower for participants with dementia living alone than living with others (£2484 vs. £4360); costs were lower for female than for male participants (£3607 vs. £4272).

Discussion

Costs varied by dementia subtype, carer status, and living arrangement. Policy makers should recognize the high costs of unpaid care for people with dementia, who do not always get the support that they need or would like to receive.

Dementia care-giving and employment: a mixed-studies review on a presumed conflict

Many persons with dementia live at home and are cared for by their relatives. If the relatives are still employed, this can lead to higher burden and losses in their work-life. The interplay between informal care-giving and working is complex. Different studies have explored this issue, but the results have not been yet synthesised. In this mixed-studies review, we elucidate the underlying complexity. Our objective is to identify the factors related to care-giving that influence employment, and to describe their impact on dementia care-givers’ employment. We performed a literature search of primary studies using four databases and one meta-database, and retrieved English- and German-language articles. We used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to assess their methodological quality. Evidence identified was synthesised by a parallel-results convergent synthesis design. We included 55 qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies published up to January 2018. The emerging model identified factors linked to the care recipient with dementia, the informal care-giver and the care-giving context. The impacts of these factors on care-givers’ employment are mostly negative (e.g. stopped/reduced work, decreased job performance). Nevertheless, the results provide encouraging insights as working can counterbalance care-giving strain, and managing both roles can enhance care-givers’ wellbeing. Practical efforts should focus on enabling informal care-givers to better manage the balance between care-giving and work responsibilities.

Call for a Uniform Strategy of Collecting Alzheimer's Disease Costs: A Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

There is now a general attempt in developed countries to implement strategic plans to fight against Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders. Among others, attention is paid to the issues of registers and calculations of economic burden. Currently available calculations of costs are difficult to compare. The problem is a different breakdown of cost categories and non-unified monitoring of cost types.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper is to note the problem of poor availability and inconsistencies in cost monitoring. Furthermore, the intersection of cost items that are comparable and consistently monitored in expert studies are specified.

METHODS

The Web of Science, Elsevier Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus databases are used in a systematic review. Two independent reviewers screened the identified records and selected relevant articles published in the period from 2010 to 2016. A meta-analysis of costs is performed in four categories related to patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

RESULTS

The resulting estimation of total costs per patient per month through meta-analysis is € 3,896, with 95% CI [2078, 5713]. The highest costs arise from informal care following non-medical and medical care.

CONCLUSION

The results confirm assumption that inconsistencies in cost monitoring of the treatment and care of people with dementia exists in Europe. Homogeneity could be assumed only in the medical costs of severe patients. Heterogeneity is assumed in non-medical costs, informal costs. Cost items should be defined and collected more precisely for future more precise monitoring of the economic burden.

Potential cost savings to be made by slowing cognitive decline in mild Alzheimer's disease dementia using a model derived from the UK GERAS observational study

Background

Given the high costs associated with the care of those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, we examined the likely impact of a reduction in the rate of cognitive decline upon cost outcomes associated with this disease.

Methods

Using the group of patients with mild AD dementia from the GERAS study, generalised linear modelling (GLM) was used to explore the relationship between change in cognition as measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and UK overall costs (health care and social care costs, and total societal costs) associated with AD dementia.

Results

A total of 200 patients with mild AD dementia were identified. Least squares mean (LSM) ± standard error (SE) reduction in MMSE score was 3.6 ± 0.4 points over 18 months. Using GLM it was possible to calculate that this worsening in cognition was associated with an 8.7% increase in total societal costs, equating to an increase of approximately £2200 per patient over an 18-month period. If the rate of decline in cognition was reduced by 30% or 50%, the associated savings in total societal costs over 18 months would be approximately £670 and £1100, respectively, of which only £110 and £180, respectively, could be attributed to a saving of health care costs.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that there are potential savings to be made in the care of patients with AD dementia through reducing the rate of cognitive decline. A reduction in wider societal costs is likely to be the main contributor to these potential savings, and need to be further evaluated when intervention costs and cost offsets can be measured.