Dementia has a significant impact on society

People living with dementia live with the disease for a long time, and therefore, spend a long time living with disability and depending on caregivers.² As a result, this significantly contributes to the public health impact of the disease.^2,5 Cost of care can be divided into direct and indirect costs.⁵ Direct costs associated with treatment of AD include physician office visits, hospital admissions, emergency department visits, skilled nursing care, and medications,^5,6 with long-term care accounting for the majority of direct costs associated with treatment of AD.³ Indirect costs include those associated with premature death, loss of productivity for the patient and caregiver, and informal unpaid care costs or indirect costs borne by the patient’s family or caregiver.^5,6 

References:
1. Alzheimer’s Disease International. Dementia statistics. Available at: https://www.alzint.org/about/dementia-facts-figures/dementia-statistics/. Accessed 31 August 2023.

2. Alzheimer’s Association. 2023 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures. Alzheimers Dement 2023; 19 (4): 1598–1695. 

3. Skaria AP. The economic and societal burden of Alzheimer disease: managed care considerations. Am J Manag Care 2022; 28 (10 Suppl): S188–S196. 

4. World Health Organization. Dementia fact sheet. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia. Accessed 31 August 2021.

5. Deb A, Thornton JD, Sambamoorthi U, Innes K. Direct and indirect cost of managing alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the United States. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res 2017; 17 (2): 189–202. 

6. Wong W. Economic burden of Alzheimer disease and managed care considerations. Am J Manag Care 2020; 26 (8 Suppl): S177–S183.