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BMC Neurology
Published in: BMC Neurology 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

The impact of dementia on drug costs in older people: results from the SNAC study

Authors: Anders Sköldunger, Johan Fastbom, Anders Wimo, Laura Fratiglioni, Kristina Johnell

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

We aimed to investigate the impact of dementia on drug costs in older people, after adjustment for socio-demographic factors, residential setting and co-morbidities.

Methods

We included 4 129 individuals aged ≥ 60 years from The Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC) in Kungsholmen and Nordanstig 2001–2004. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to investigate how much dementia was associated with drug costs.

Results

Overall drug costs for persons with and without dementia were 6147 SEK (816 USD) and 3810 SEK (506 USD), respectively. The highest drug cost was observed for nervous system drugs among persons with dementia. The adjusted GLM showed that dementia was not associated with higher overall drug costs (β = 1.119; ns). Comorbidities and residential setting were the most important factors for overall drug costs.

Conclusion

We found that the observed higher overall drug costs for persons with dementia were due to comorbidities and residential setting.
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Metadata
Title
The impact of dementia on drug costs in older people: results from the SNAC study
Authors
Anders Sköldunger
Johan Fastbom
Anders Wimo
Laura Fratiglioni
Kristina Johnell
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-016-0547-x

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