What is it and what does it include?
The GERAS Study - US was a prospective, multicenter, observational study that aimed to assess societal costs and resource use associated with AD among patients and their primary caregivers across 76 sites in the United States. Eligible patients were between the ages of 55 and 85 years at baseline, met criteria for early AD in the opinion of the enrolling physician, had Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores ≥20 and had study partners who were willing to participate. Participants were classified as mildly cognitively impaired ([MCI]; Subsequent stages further classified participants as either amyloid positive or negative. Data collected for patients and caregivers included demographics/clinical characteristics; current medication; patient cognitive, functional, and behavioral assessments; patient and caregiver health-related quality of life, and patient and caregiver resource use.
How can I use this dataset to advance my research?
This dataset is ideal if:
- you’re analyzing care costs and their association to AD severity over time.
- you’re studying health care use, costs, and clinical outcomes over time for amyloid positive participants with early stages of AD in the US.
Has this dataset helped researchers understand Alzheimer’s and other dementias better?
Of course!
- AD & Medical costs:
In 2021, research showed both function and cognition declined significantly over 36 months in this cohort of amyloid positive patients. Direct medical costs remained steady over the follow-up period after an initial decline from baseline, possibly due to diagnostic certainty achieved at baseline. The rise in direct nonmedical costs for MILD and the trend toward rising indirect caregiver costs in MCI and MILD patients over 36 months shows the additional economic impact associated with clinical progression in early AD. December 2021 – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.057473