Healthcare utilization and costs in managed care patients with Alzheimer's disease during the last few years of life.
OBJECTIVE
To learn whether managed care patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are more or less costly to care for than patients with other forms of dementia or patients without dementia during the last few years of life.


METHODS
Case control study.


METHODS
A health maintenance organization base population.


METHODS
Three groups of subjects (mean age 85) who were deceased members of a dementia registry obtained from a health maintenance organization base population: 263 subjects with clinically diagnosed probable AD, 133 subjects with other forms of dementia, and 100 cognitively intact controls.


METHODS
Utilization records were examined for the 3 years preceding death.


RESULTS
In all subcategories and in aggregate, utilization and costs of care were either similar or lower for patients with AD than for the other groups, even after controlling for age, gender, and comorbidity.


CONCLUSIONS
Persons with AD do not incur higher costs than persons with other types of dementia or age-matched persons without dementia in a mature health maintenance organization during the last few years of life, when utilization is likely to be highest.
McCormick
W C
WC
Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Hardy
J
J
Kukull
W A
WA
Bowen
J D
JD
Teri
L
L
Zitzer
S
S
Larson
E B
EB
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology