Why the study?
Does reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and obesity reduce the risk and costs of dementia in a Medicare cohort?
Does reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and obesity reduce the risk and costs of dementia in a Medicare cohort?
Simulated reductions in cardiovascular risk factors and obesity suggest potential health gains and cost savings by delaying or preventing dementia.
Certain chronic conditions appear to be modifiable risk factors of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. To understand the potential health and economic impacts of addressing those risk factors, we used data on a Medicare cohort to simulate four scenarios: a 10 percent reduction in the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, respectively, and a 10 percent reduction in body mass index among beneficiaries who were overweight or obese. Our simulation demonstrated that reducing the prevalence of these conditions may yield "unintended benefits" by lowering the risk, delaying the onset, reducing the duration, and lowering the costs of dementia. More research is needed to clarify the exact relationship between various other chronic diseases and dementia. However, our findings highlight potential health gains and savings opportunities stemming from the better management of other conditions associated with dementia.
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Lin et al. (2014) studied Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. 10% reduction in prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and BMI was evaluated on Risk, onset, duration, and costs of dementia.
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