A pharmacoeconomic evaluation of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

A pharmacoeconomic evaluation of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2018 Jul 12;: Authors: Ebrahem AS, Oremus M Abstract INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) results in progressively worsening cognitive decline, leading to loss of functional ability, behaviour/mood disturbances, institutionalization, and death. Current pharmaceutical therapies only treat the symptoms of cognitive decline yet can be expensive for payers. Areas covered: The authors undertook a systematic review of economic evaluations of pharmaceutical therapies for AD. The literature search encompassed English-language studies indexed in PubMed (Medline), Cochrane Library Current, and Web of Science. The search included articles published between January 1, 1995 and February 10, 2018. The literature suggested AD medications generally dominated comparator treatments (e.g., placebo). Expert opinion: The authors noted several limitations of the included economic evaluations. These limitations suggest the results of the economic evaluations should be interpreted with caution. Many economic models were not transparent with respect to sources of probabilities and cost data, and data collected in certain jurisdictions were applied to other jurisdictions without considering the validity of such applications. Measuring health utilities in cognitively impaired populations raises questions about the valid...
Source: Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Expert Opin Pharmacother Source Type: research