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Abstract [en]
Abstract.Background: A randomized controlled trial of the SMART4MD tablet application was conducted for persons with mildcognitive impairment (PwMCI) and their informal caregivers to improve or maintain quality of life.Objective: The objective was to conduct economic evaluation of SMART4MD compared to standard care in Sweden froma healthcare provider perspective based on a 6-month follow-up period.Methods: Three hundred forty-five dyads were enrolled: 173 dyads in the intervention group and 172 in standard care. Theprimary outcome measures for PwMCI and informal caregivers were quality-adjusted life years (QALY). The results arepresented as incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, and confidence intervals are calculated using non-parametric bootstrapprocedure.Results: For PwMCI, the mean difference in total costs between intervention and standard care was D 12 (95%CI: –2090to 2115) (US$ = D 1.19) and the mean QALY change was –0.004 (95%CI: –0.009 to 0.002). For informal caregivers, thecost difference was – D 539 (95%CI: –2624 to 1545) and 0.003 (95%CI: –0.002 to 0.008) for QALY. The difference in costand QALY for PwMCI and informal caregivers combined was –D 527 (95%CI: –3621 to 2568) and –0.001 (95%CI: –0.008to 0.006). Although generally insignificant differences, this indicates that SMART4MD, compared to standard care was: 1)more costly and less effective for PwMCI, 2) less costly and more effective for informal caregivers, and 3) less costly andless effective for PwMCI and informal caregivers combined.∗Correspondence to: Zartashia Ghani, PhD-Candidate, AppliedHealth Technology, Department of Health, Blekinge Institute ofTechnology, Lumavagen 1, 371 50 Karlskrona, Sweden. Tel.: ¨0046733420237; E-mail: zartashia.ghani@bth.se.ISSN 1387-2877 © 2022 – The authors. Published by IOS Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the termsof the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0).1630 Z. Ghani et al. / Short Term Economic Evaluation of the Digital Platform (SMART4MD)Conclusion: The cost-effectiveness of SMART4MD over 6 months is inconclusive, although the intervention might be morebeneficial for informal caregivers than PwMCI.
Keywords
Carer, cost-effectiveness, economic evaluation, elderly, memory, mHealth, mild cognitive impairment, mild dementia, mobile application, smartphone
National Category
Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Research subject
Applied Health Technology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:bth-20586 (URN)10.3233/JAD-215013 (DOI)
Funder
EU, Horizon 2020, 643399
2020-10-282020-10-282024-10-08