Dementia prevention: The potential long‐term cost‐effectiveness of the FINGER prevention program
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Decision-analytic Markov simulation model (economic extrapolation)
OpenAlex W4285588043 · doi:10.1002/alz.12698
What was done
Researchers developed a lifetime Markov model from a societal perspective to evaluate the potential cost-effectiveness of the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) program versus usual care in a simulated cohort of individuals at risk of dementia.
What was found
Compared to usual care, the FINGER program resulted in lower total costs (1,635,346 SEK vs. 1,653,275 SEK) and higher quality-adjusted life years (8.679 vs. 8.636 QALYs). This generated savings of 16,928 SEK and a gain of 0.043 QALYs per person, supporting extended dominance. Across the model, 1,623 dementia cases were avoided with 0.17 fewer person-years living with dementia. Sensitivity analysis confirmed these conclusions across most scenarios.
Why it matters
Multidomain lifestyle interventions targeting dementia risk factors have the potential to be cost-saving and reduce societal disease burden when scaled to broad target populations.
Limits
The findings are derived from a mathematical simulation model rather than direct, long-term empirical follow-up. The simulated population size and parameter uncertainty ranges are not reported in the abstract. Per-person individual gains (0.043 QALYs) are modest, and real-world results will depend heavily on sustained lifestyle adherence.
Cited by
- partial An economic analysis of the FINGER trial demonstrated cost savings for the government through reductions in falls, heart attacks, and prescriptions for antidepressants and cardiovascular treatments.