Economic Burden, Mortality, and Institutionalization in Patients Newly Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease

Authors

Christopher M. Black, Merck & Co., Inc.
Howard Fillit, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Lin Xie, STATinMED Research
Xiaohan Hu, University of Southern California
M. Furaha Kariburyo, STATinMED Research
Baishali M. Ambegaonkar, Merck & Co., Inc.
Onur Baser, Columbia University
Huseyin Yuce, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow
Rezaul K. Khandker, Merck & Co., Inc.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-31-2017

Abstract

Background: Current information is scarce regarding comorbid conditions, treatment, survival, institutionalization, and health care utilization for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients.

Objectives: Compare all-cause mortality, rate of institutionalization, and economic burden between treated and untreated newly-diagnosed AD patients.

Methods: Patients aged 65–100 years with ≥1 primary or ≥2 secondary AD diagnoses (ICD-9-CM:331.0] with continuous medical and pharmacy benefits for ≥12 months pre-index and ≥6 months post-index date (first AD diagnosis date) were identified from Medicare fee-for-service claims 01JAN2011–30JUN2014. Patients with AD treatment claims or AD/ADrelated dementia diagnosis during the pre-index period were excluded. Patients were assigned to treated and untreated cohorts based on AD treatment received post-index date. Total 8,995 newly-diagnosed AD patients were identified; 4,037 (44.8%)

were assigned to the treated cohort. Time-to-death and institutionalization were assessed using Cox regression. To compare health care costs and utilizations, 1 : 1 propensity score matching (PSM) was used.

Results: Untreated patients were older (83.85 versus 81.44 years; p < 0.0001), with more severe comorbidities (mean Charlson comorbidity index: 3.54 versus 3.22; p < 0.0001). After covariate adjustment, treated patients were less likely to die (hazard ratio[HR] = 0.69; p < 0.0001) and were associated with 20% lower risk of institutionalization (HR = 0.801; p = 0.0003). After PSM, treated AD patients were less likely to have hospice visits (3.25% versus 9.45%; p < 0.0001), and incurred lower annual all-cause costs ($25,828 versus $30,110; p = 0.0162).

Conclusion: After controlling for comorbidities, treated AD patients have better survival, lower institutionalization, and sometimes fewer resource utilizations, suggesting that treatment and improved care management could be beneficial for newly-diagnosed AD patients from economic and clinical perspectives.