Objective:

This study aims to identify dementia patients using cognitive assessment tools (CAT) and assess the cost differences by severity of cognitive decline. 

Background:

Dementia is a broad term encompassing various cognitive impairments that interfere with an individual’s daily life. In 2022, the annual cost of dementia care exceeded $300 billion, thus straining healthcare systems, families, and care providers.

Design/Methods:

Incident Dementia patients aged 65 and above were identified in the year 2018 using ICD10 diagnosis codes from Optum de-identified Market Clarity Database. Patients with 2 confirmed outpatient (30 days apart) or 1 confirmed inpatient diagnosis were included. Index event was defined as the first documented diagnosis of Dementia in claims/EHR. 12 months pre- and post-index medical and pharmacy eligibility was ensured. Mentions of CAT (MMSE, MOCA, SLUMS) along with their respective scores was observed in structured and unstructured data. CAT score was used to classify the severity of dementia as mild, moderate, and severe. We observed Dementia specific standardized medical cost over a period of 12 months.

Results:

Out of the total 101,126 patients, CAT with mention of score was found in 3% and 9% in structured and unstructured data respectively. Of these, 24%, 21%, 32% and 23% patients had normal, mild, moderate, and severe scores of CAT respectively. A gender-based comparison revealed a contrast between mild (13% vs 9%) and severe (14% vs 9%) CAT score in Females and Males respectively. The average medical cost for dementia was highest in severe as compared to mild category ($5,621 vs $3,409). Further, a significant increase in cost (P< 0.001) was observed in Caucasians from Mild ($2,314) to severe ($4,656) cognitive decline.

Conclusions: