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Early intervention in Alzheimer's disease: a health economic study of the effects of diagnostic timing
Barnett JH, Lewis L, Blackwell AD, Taylor M.. BMC neurology, 2014-05-07
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Intervention and treatment in Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD-dementia) can be cost effective but the majority of patients are not diagnosed in a timely manner. Technology is now available that can enable the earlier detection of cognitive loss associated with incipient dementia, offering the potential for earlier intervention in the UK health care system. This study aimed to determine to what extent the timing of an intervention affects its cost-effectiveness.
Key findings
- Technology is now available that can enable the earlier detection of cognitive loss associated with incipient dementia, offering the potential for earlier intervention in the UK health care system.
- This study aimed to determine to what extent the timing of an intervention affects its cost-effectiveness.
- Methods Using published data describing cognitive decline in the years prior to an AD diagnosis, we modelled the effects on healthcare costs and quality-adjusted life years of hypothetical symptomatic and disease-modifying interventions.
- Early and standard interventions were assumed to have equal clinical effects, but the early intervention could be applied up to eight years prior to standard diagnosis.
Why it matters
This UK health-economic modelling study asked how much the timing of treatment changes its cost-effectiveness in Alzheimer's disease. Using published data on cognitive decline in the years before diagnosis, it modelled hypothetical symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments, assuming early and standard treatment work equally well but that early treatment could start up to eight years before standard diagnosis. It is a model, not a trial. No real drug or patient was tested, so it does not show that earlier diagnosis or treatment prevents, slows or cures the disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 46 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | BMC Neurology: journal h-index 122 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 252 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 18.0 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 11 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 61 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Cambridge: institution h-index 1,973 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24885474) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 44 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 46 out of 100. |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Barnett, J. H., Lewis, L., Blackwell, A. D., & Taylor, M. (2014). Early intervention in Alzheimer's disease: a health economic study of the effects of diagnostic timing. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-14-101
Vancouver
Barnett JH, Lewis L, Blackwell AD, Taylor M. Early intervention in Alzheimer's disease: a health economic study of the effects of diagnostic timing. BMC neurology. 2014. doi:10.1186/1471-2377-14-101. PMID: 24885474.
BibTeX
@article{barnett2014-24885474,
author = {Barnett, J. H. and Lewis, L. and Blackwell, A. D. and Taylor, M.},
title = {{Early intervention in Alzheimer's disease: a health economic study of the effects of diagnostic timing}},
journal = {BMC neurology},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2377-14-101},
pmid = {24885474},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-14-101}
}
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