Systematic review of economic evaluations of Alzheimer’s disease medications

Abstract

This systematic review was conducted to summarize published pharmacoeconomic studies of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) medications. Pharmacoeconomic studies were included in the review if they were published in English and contained a full and complete report of an original economic evaluation. The studies also had to be comparative in nature (i.e., cost–benefit, cost–effectiveness, cost–utility or cost–minimization analyses). Existing AD medications were found to dominate standard treatment (i.e., no drugs), or they were found to be more costly and more effective than standard treatment. Estimates of cost and effect varied widely because of different underlying models, assumptions and data sources. More research is needed to draw firmer conclusions regarding the overall cost-effectiveness of AD medications.