Socio-Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease in Italy: A Multicenter Cost of Illness Study

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the socio-economic burden of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in Italy, focusing on healthcare resource use, loos of productivity and quality of life (QoL) of patients and caregivers.

METHODS: An observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study is running across seven Italian AD centres collecting data on patients categorized by MMSE score: >26, 20-26, 10-20and <10. Clinical and demographic data, including pathology, healthcare services use, loss of productivity and QoL (EQ-5D-5L), were collected through questionnaire. Preliminary results on resource use (mean number per month), productivity loss (average hours/day and days/month) and QoL has been assessed and compare within MMSE groups.

RESULTS: One-hundred seventy-three patient included in the analysis reported a mean age of 76.1 years with 54.0% women, and almost 80% lived with family members. Average time since diagnosis was 2.7 years. The main resource consumed by patients was community service (e.g. caretaker or home health nurses), with 4.7 day/month of home help/personal assistance that increase in patients with lower MMSE score. The mean patients’ EQ-5D-VAS was 63.7, with higher MMSE groups scoring better. Help from 2 or more family members were received by 55.2% of patients. Caregivers spent 12.7 days/months on patient’s personal care (2.0 hours/day), 19.3 days/months on household tasks (3.1 hours/day), and 15.1 days/month ensuring patient safety (3.4 hours/day); loosing 4.2 work hours weekly. Caregivers’ EQ-5D-VAS score ranged from 82.6 (>26 MMSE) to 67.4 (<10 MMSE).

CONCLUSIONS: This study reported community services and caregivers’ daily activity and loss of productivity as the main driver of AD burden. The caregivers’ burden increase with the disease severity as the request of community services. The preliminary results suggested the need of a societal point of view in defining the AD burden and assessing the value of AD interventions.