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Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 5/2012

01-10-2012 | Original Paper

Disease progression and costs of care in Alzheimer’s disease patients treated with donepezil: a longitudinal naturalistic cohort

Authors: Anders Gustavsson, Linus Jönsson, Johan Parmler, Niels Andreasen, Carina Wattmo, Åsa K. Wallin, Lennart Minthon

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 5/2012

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Abstract

Background/Aims

Improved data and methods are needed for modeling disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for economic evaluation of treatments. The aim is to estimate prediction models for long-term AD progression and subsequently economic outcomes.

Methods

Three-year follow-up data on 435 patients treated with the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in clinical practise were analyzed. Regression models were estimated for long-term prediction of decline in cognitive function (ADAS-cog) and activities in daily living (ADL) ability, risk of institutionalization and costs of care.

Results

The cognitive deterioration was estimated at between 1.6 and 4 ADAS-cog points per every 6 months, increasing with disease severity. Cognitive function was an important predictor of ADL-ability, which itself was the most important predictor of the risk of institutionalization and costs of care. Combining all models in a cross-validation process generated accurate predictions of costs of care at each 6 months follow-up.

Conclusion

The proposed methods for representing AD progression and economic outcomes can be used in micro-simulation models for the economic evaluation of new treatments.
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Metadata
Title
Disease progression and costs of care in Alzheimer’s disease patients treated with donepezil: a longitudinal naturalistic cohort
Authors
Anders Gustavsson
Linus Jönsson
Johan Parmler
Niels Andreasen
Carina Wattmo
Åsa K. Wallin
Lennart Minthon
Publication date
01-10-2012
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 5/2012
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-011-0334-y

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