Treating Alzheimer’s Linked to Lower Mortality, Health Care Costs

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease who received treatment had lower health care costs and lower mortality rates when compared with patients with Alzheimer’s disease who did not receive treatment for the condition, according to research presented at AAIC 2016.

“The arguments for early treatment are myriad, but this study shows greater survival and less all-cause healthcare costs among those receiving treatment for dementia,” presenting author Christopher M Black, MPH, said in a press release. “These results indicate that choosing not to treat, or even a delay in starting treatment, may lead to less favorable results.” 

The researchers studied a cohort of 6553 Medicare beneficiaries, aged 75 to 85 years, with ICD-9 codes related to a primary or secondary Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. Study participants were classified into two groups, treated and non-treated, based on whether or not they received anti-dementia treatment. The researchers used one-to-one propensity score matching in order to adjust for differences between the study groups. Statistical analysis was used to compare mortality and health care costs between the two study groups.

Study results showed that, after adjusting for demographic and clinical differences, treated patients had lower mortality, less monthly hospice visits, and lower health care costs when compared with patients who did not receive treatment. Monthly all cause health care costs were $2207 in the treated group, compared with $2349 in the non-treated group (P = .3037). The researchers noted that inpatient care was the biggest contributor to costs, accounting for 30% of expenditures among the overall cohort.

Results also showed that untreated patients were older, had more severe comorbidities at baseline, and had higher unadjusted mortality. 

“Early diagnosis and time to treatment should be a priority for policymakers, physicians and the public,” Black and colleagues concluded. — David Costill