ObjectivesTo explore the cost-effectiveness of a supervised moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise programme in people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and estimate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) using participant-reported and proxy-reported measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL)DesignA cost-effectiveness analysis of economic and HRQoL data from a randomised trial delivered over 16 weeks.SettingMemory clinics in Denmark.Participants200 individuals with mild AD aged 50–90 years gave informed consent to participate in the study. Participants were randomised to control or intervention group.InterventionsControl group received treatment as usual. The intervention group performed 1 hour of supervised moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise three times weekly for 16 weeks.Primary and secondary outcomes measuresDifferent physical, functional and health measures were obtained at inclusion (baseline) and 4 and 16 weeks after. HRQoL (EuroQol-5 Dimensions-5 Levels/EQ-Visual Analogue Scale) was reported by the participants and the primary caregivers as proxy respondents. Differences in HRQOL as reported by the participant and caregiver were explored as were different values of caregiver time with respite from care tasks.ResultsThe intervention cost was estimated at €608 and €496 per participant, with and without transport cost, respectively. Participants and caregivers in the intervention group reported a small, positive non-significant improvement in EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS after 16 weeks. The ICER was estimated at €72 000/quality-adjusted life year using participant-reported outcomes and €87000 using caregiver-reported outcomes.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the exercise intervention is unlikely to be cost-effective within the commonly applied threshold values. The cost of the intervention might be offset by potential savings from reduction in use of health and social care.Trial registration numberhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01681602.
Objectives: The main objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review to identify and discuss methodological issues surrounding decision modelling for economic evaluation of non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) in dementia. Methods: A systematic search was conducted for publications using decision modelling to investigate the costeffectiveness of NPIs for individuals with dementia. Search was limited to studies in English. Studies were excluded if they evaluated interventions aimed only at caregivers of patients with dementia, or if they only included economic evaluation alongside an RCT without additional modelling. Results: Two primary, five secondary and three tertiary prevention intervention studies were identified and reviewed. Five studies utilised Markov models, with others using discrete event, regression-based simulation, and decision tree approaches. A number of challenging methodological issues were identified, including the use of MMSE-score as the main outcome measure, limited number of strategies compared, restricted time horizons, and limited or dated data on dementia onset, progression and mortality. Only one of the three tertiary prevention studies explicitly considered the effectiveness of pharmacological therapies alongside their intervention. Conclusions: Economic evaluations of NPIs in dementia should utilise purposefully-developed decision models, and avoid models for evaluation of pharmaceuticals. Broader outcome measures could be a way to capture the wide impact of NPIs for dementia in future decision models. It is also important to account for the effects of pharmacological therapies alongside the NPIs in economic evaluations. Access to more localised and up-to-date data on dementia onset, progression and mortality is a priority for accurate prediction.
Whilst these quality of life instruments demonstrated moderate correlation, the EQ-5D-5L does not appear to capture all aspects of quality of life that are relevant to people with advanced dementia and we cannot recommend the use of this instrument for use within this population. The QUALID appears to be a more suitable instrument for measuring HRQOL in people with severe dementia, but is not preference-based, which limits its application in economic evaluations of dementia care.
Reporting AD-attributable costs by year to diagnosis can be useful for use in decision modelling. Medical costs attributed to AD are driven by diagnostic procedures and medication, and the impact of AD on medical costs may not be as high or prolonged as previously suggested.
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