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Improving the quality of life of care home residents with dementia: Cost‐effectiveness of an optimized intervention for residents with clinically significant agitation in dementia
Author(s) -
Romeo Renee,
Zala Darshan,
Knapp Martin,
Orrell Martin,
Fossey Jane,
Ballard Clive
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.08.010
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , intervention (counseling) , randomized controlled trial , confidence interval , gerontology , quality adjusted life year , psychological intervention , cost effectiveness , nursing , disease , surgery , risk analysis (engineering) , pathology
To examine whether an optimized intervention is a more cost‐effective option than treatment as usual (TAU) for improving agitation and quality of life in nursing home residents with clinically significant agitation and dementia. Methods A cost‐effectiveness analysis within a cluster‐randomized factorial study in 69 care homes with 549 residents was conducted. Each cluster was randomized to receive either the Well‐being and Health for people with Dementia (WHELD) intervention or TAU for nine months. Health and social care costs, agitation, and quality of life outcomes were evaluated. Results Improvements in agitation and quality of life were evident in residents allocated to the WHELD intervention group. The additional cost of the WHELD intervention was offset by the higher health and social care costs incurred by TAU group residents (mean difference, £2103; 95% confidence interval, −13 to 4219). Discussion The WHELD intervention has clinical and economic benefits when used in residents with clinically significant agitation.