AXURAŽ and Pharmacoeconomics
The pharmacoeconomic study of Wimo et al. 2003 (Abstract) shows:
- Significant reduction of admissions to a nursing home
- Significant reduction of care giver time
Methods
Patients with moderate to severe AD were treated with 20 mg/d memantine or placebo in the randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind study over 28 weeks. 166 patients for whom all data were available at each examination time were included in the RUD analysis [Wimo et al., 2003].
Results
Overall, treatment with the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine was superior to treatment with placebo. Memantine not only effectively influenced the clinical symptoms but also led to improvements or savings in relevant pharmacoeconomic areas.
Results of memantine therapy versus placebo |
Significance (p value) |
|
Caregiver time |
Reduction by 51.5 h/month through memantine therapy |
0,02 |
Admissions to nursing homes |
1 patient under memantine 5 patients under placebo |
0,04 |
Total societal costs1) |
Reduction by 1.090 USD/month |
0,01 |
Total caregivers costs2) |
Reduction by 824 USD/month |
0,03 |
Direct nonmedical costs3) |
Reduction by 431 USD/month |
0,07 |
Thanks to memantine, the amount of time spent on nursing care each month by relatives compared to placebo was reduced by an average of 51.5 hours/month (p < 0.02). Other aspects in favor of memantine were the increased time to admission to a nursing home and a significant reduction of the number of admissions (p = 0.04). Cost savings resulting from memantine therapy were based on reduced caregiver time required and on less admissions to nursing homes.
1) Record: All direct medical costs, costs of nursing care by carers, all nonmedical costs
2) Record: Direct medical costs for carers, costs of time to be spent by carers
3) Record: Institutionalizations, outpatient service, day care, transport service,“meals on wheels”
