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Economic impacts of introducing diagnostics for mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer's disease patients
Wittenberg R, Knapp M, Karagiannidou M, Dickson J, Schott J.. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 2019-08-16
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Introduction Disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are likely to be offered only to patients with molecular evidence for Alzheimer pathology and expanded to patients with prodromal AD. We calculated the potential future costs of expanding the number of positron emission tomography (PET) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests in the United Kingdom. Methods We conducted a focused literature review and consulted experts to obtain information on the current use of PET and CSF to diagnose prodromal AD, staffing and equipment requirements for these tests, and associated costs. Results We estimate annual costs of 100,000 extra amyloid PET scans and 100,000 extra CSF tests at £113 million and £48 million, respectively; these costs are likely to be higher in the first year. Discussion The budgetary impacts are not insignificant but are small in comparison to the likely market price of any disease-modifying treatments or to the probable costs of missed or inaccurate diagnosis.
Key findings
- Results We estimate annual costs of 100,000 extra amyloid PET scans and 100,000 extra CSF tests at £113 million and £48 million, respectively; these costs are likely to be higher in the first year.
Why it matters
If future Alzheimer's drugs are offered only to people with confirmed amyloid, many more PET scans and spinal-fluid (CSF) tests will be needed. Using a literature review and expert input, this UK analysis estimated that 100,000 extra amyloid PET scans would cost £113 million a year and 100,000 extra CSF tests £48 million a year, with higher costs likely in the first year. The authors judged these costs small next to likely drug prices or the costs of missed diagnosis, but the study gives no figures for those comparisons and tests no treatment.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia Translational Research & Clinical Interventions: journal h-index 84 (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 | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 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 | 4 / 7 | Cited 56 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 6.2 citations a year over 9 year(s) since 2019 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 19 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Jonathan M. Schott: h-index 96 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31463360) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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
Wittenberg, R., Knapp, M., Karagiannidou, M., Dickson, J., & Schott, J. (2019). Economic impacts of introducing diagnostics for mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer's disease patients. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.06.001
Vancouver
Wittenberg R, Knapp M, Karagiannidou M, Dickson J, Schott J. Economic impacts of introducing diagnostics for mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer's disease patients. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). 2019. doi:10.1016/j.trci.2019.06.001. PMID: 31463360.
BibTeX
@article{wittenberg2019-31463360,
author = {Wittenberg, R. and Knapp, M. and Karagiannidou, M. and Dickson, J. and Schott, J.},
title = {{Economic impacts of introducing diagnostics for mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer's disease patients}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (New York, N. Y.)},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.trci.2019.06.001},
pmid = {31463360},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.06.001}
}
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