Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Health technology assessment (HTA) of interventions for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) requires reliable real-world inputs on healthcare utilisation, cost composition, and non-medical resource use. In Brazil, limited availability of locally derived cost parameters constrains economic modelling, budget impact analyses, and value-based decision-making. This study generates HTA-relevant cost components and utilisation patterns for AD in Brazil, with emphasis on parameters most influential for economic evaluation and reimbursement decisions.
METHODS: Data were derived from an observational study of 133 Brazilian patients with AD. Healthcare utilisation included outpatient care, hospitalisations, pharmacotherapy, diagnostic services, institutional care and informal caregiving. Costs were estimated from a societal perspective and disaggregated into direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect components. Analyses focused on cost distribution, relative contribution of components, and variation by disease severity and care setting, rather than estimation of total burden.
RESULTS: Cost composition varied substantially by disease severity. Direct medical cost was dominated by hospitalizations, while indirect costs primarily institutional care, informal caregiving and caregiver productivity loss accounted for an increasing share of total costs in moderate and severe stages. Institutional care was associated with pronounced shifts in cost structure toward formal healthcare expenditures. These patterns indicate that indirect costs and disease progression are critical drivers of variability in HTA model outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides context-specific cost components and utilisation patterns that can be directly incorporated into economic models of AD in Brazil. Incorporating disease severity and informal care into HTA frameworks is essential to adequately capture value and reduce decision uncertainty in reimbursement and policy planning.