With aging come changes in both the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs, which leads to a higher sensitivity to drugs and susceptibility to adverse drug reactions [7]
With aging come changes in both the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs, which leads to a higher sensitivity to drugs and susceptibility to adverse drug reactions [7]. observed higher overall drug costs for persons with dementia were due to comorbidities and residential setting. strong class=”kwd-title” Keywords: Costs, Dementia, Drugs, Generalized linear model, Health economy, Pharmacoeconomics, Population-based study Background Worldwide, more people reach old age as life expectancy continues to increase [1]. The aging of the population entails challenges for the health care system and for resource allocation. One of the most important challenges is the expected increase in number of people with FGF2 dementia. This detrimental condition causes great suffering for the affected individuals and their families as well as immense costs for the society [2C4]. Another important challenge is the extensive use of drugs among older people [5], which accounts for the majority of societal drug expenditures [6]. With aging come changes in both the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs, which leads to a higher sensitivity to drugs and susceptibility to adverse drug DUBs-IN-2 reactions [7]. Indeed, adverse drug events in older people entail significant costs in terms of care and hospitalizations [8]. A part of this problem is also comorbid conditions which are often present in the older people [9]. Particularly vulnerable are persons with dementia, in whom the neurodegenerative processes lead to a higher sensitivity to central nervous DUBs-IN-2 system (CNS)-acting drugs. Nonetheless, use of psychotropic drugs is very common among persons with dementia [10], although these drugs have been related to serious adverse outcomes in this frail group [11C13]. Drugs have been reported to account for about 2?% of the total costs for dementia [2]. However, new drug therapies emerge and in the future we may be able to treat dementia patients with disease modifying drugs, which will most certainly be very costly [14]. Research on drug use as well as drug costs in dementia is usually important from a resource allocation perspective. However, research about costs of drugs among frail persons with dementia and older people in general is usually scarce. Many studies were conducted several years ago when todays widely prescribed drugs, such as anti-dementia drugs, were not yet implemented in clinical practice [15]. In addition, most of these previous studies only analyzed overall drug costs and not individual drug classes. Residential setting is an important factor for both drug use and dementia status [5]. People living in DUBs-IN-2 institutional settings use on average almost twice as many drugs as people living at home [5]. Moreover, since people with dementia who live in institutions are more cognitively impaired than their community-dwelling counterparts [10] their susceptibility to side effects are even more profound and residential setting should therefore be accounted for in analyses of drug use in dementia. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether dementia was associated with drug costs in older people. Methods Study populace The Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC) is an ongoing, populace based, longitudinal study of aging and health conducted at four different sites in Sweden. We analyzed data from the baseline examination conducted in 2001C2004 from Nordanstig in the middle a part of DUBs-IN-2 Sweden and from Kungsholmen/Essinge?arna in the central a part of Stockholm. Inclusion criteria were having an address in either of the actual areas at time of birthday for the ages specified below. The SNAC study has been described in detail elsewhere [16]. In short, people aged 60, 66, 72, 78, 81, 84, 87 and 90?years are interviewed by a nurse about a wide range of domains including socioeconomic status, living habits and family history. Participants are also examined by a physician, memory space tested with a lab and psychologist testing are collected. Data about medication and illnesses make use of are collected through the interview using the doctor. When the participant struggles to offer information, a member of family instead is asked. If the individual lives within an institution, the info is most collected from medical records and staff often. The care program for the elderly in Sweden In Sweden, look after older people C as well as the connected costs C are divided between municipalities as well as the region council. Social treatment (e.g. house services, long-term institutional treatment and day treatment) is included in the municipalities while major healthcare and specialist treatment are structured by region councils. Individual medication expenditure can be to an excellent degree subsidized in Sweden. In 2003, the utmost degree of out of pocket expenditure for medicines was 1,800 SEK per 12?month period. General, nearly all charges for medical and social care in Sweden are publically funded by taxes. Meanings Socio-demographic variablesAge was classified into 60C69, 70C79, 80C89 and 90?years in the descriptive evaluation and used while a continuing variable in the Generalized Linear Model (GLM). Residential establishing was dichotomized into community-dwelling (i.e. surviving in.