O2‐11‐05: ECONOMIC COST OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IN CHINA: A CLUSTER RANDOMIZED OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Chinese population has been aging rapidly, and the number of dementia patients grows year by year. This disease places a significant burden on patients, their family members, and society. Several international multilateral cost-of-illness (COI) studies have revealed a huge cost of AD or even have set a decision analytic model, which comes from a structure that reflects the corresponding costs and effects by setting mathematical relationships. However, there have been no COI studies to estimate the economic burden conducted in mainland China. This study aimed at estimating the Chinese economic burden in patients with AD. This observational study covered all the 30 regions in mainland China except Hong Kong and Macau. Tier 3 hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, elderly hospitals, nursing home and communities were randomly selected as research centers, and more than 2500 patients with AD and their caregivers were enrolled at last. The main outcome of this study was assessed not only by the electronic medical system of communities and hospitals, but also by questionnaires. A societal prevalence-based gross COI approach was used to estimate the total yearly costs of AD in China. The estimated number of patients with AD older than 60 years of age in China in 2015 was 8.6 million, and its treatment rate was 30%. The annual costs were calculated and expressed in Chinese Renminbi (RMB). The yearly average monetary cost per person attributable to AD was 108,300RMB, in which the cost of per AD patient was 107,700RMB for outpatient treatment, 127,900RMB for hospitalized treatment and 75,400 RMB for without treatment, respectively. Considering the average annual ratio of inpatients and outpatients of different hospitals is about 1:6, the total monetary cost of AD in 2015 was RMB 739 billion. The expenditure will reach 951 billion RMB if all the patients accept a treatment. Moreover, the total number of people living with AD in 2020 was estimated at 11.0 million, which would reach 16.0 million by 2030. Chinese economic burden of AD is heavy, and will be heavier with the number of patients with AD increasing in the coming years. A national plan against dementia should be made for the policy makers. The yearly costs of AD in China (RMB, in billion), 1990-2030