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[The Cost of Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline in German Memory Clinics]
Onur Oezguer A, Wolff-Menzler Claus, von Arnim Christine A F, Jessen Frank, Fink Gereon R, Wiltfang Jens, Laske Christoph, Schneider Anja et al.. Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie, 2022-07-21
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Dementias are expensive diseases: the net annual cost in European healthcare is about € 28.000 per case with a strong stage dependency, of which medical care accounts for about 19%. Diagnostic costs, on the other hand, account for only a small proportion of the total costs. With changes in the guidelines, biomarker tests are becoming increasingly important. At present, the concrete economic impact of biomarker-based diagnosis is largely unknown. To determine the actual costs of diagnostic procedures based on guidelines, we conducted a survey among the members of the German Memory Clinic Network (DNG). From 15 expert centres, the staff engagement time for all procedures was collected. Based on the individual engagement times of the different professions, the total of personnel costs for diagnostics was calculated using current gross personnel costs. The total sum of diagnostic costs (personnel plus procedures) was calculated for three different scenarios e. g. € 633,97 for diagnostics without biomarkers, € 1.214,90 for diagnostics with CSF biomarkers and € 4.740,58 € for diagnostics with FDG- plus Amyloid-PET. In addition, the actual diagnostic costs of the current practice in expert memory clinics were estimated, taking into account personnel costs, costs for the different procedures and the frequency of their use across all patients. This results in total average costs of € 1.394,43 per case as the mean across all centres (personnel costs € 351,72, costs for diagnostic procedures € 1.042,71). The results show that state-of-the-art diagnosis of dementia and pre-dementia states, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) requires financial resources, which are currently not fully reimbursed in Germany. The need for a biomarker-based etiological diagnosis of dementia and pre-dementia states will increase, due to availability of disease-modifying treatments. Therefore, the current gap of reimbursement must be filled by new models of compensation.
Key findings
- This results in total average costs of € 1.394,43 per case as the mean across all centres (personnel costs € 351,72, costs for diagnostic procedures € 1.042,71).
- The results show that state-of-the-art diagnosis of dementia and pre-dementia states, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) requires financial resources, which are currently not fully reimbursed in Germany.
Why it matters
This survey of German memory clinics calculated the personnel and procedure costs of diagnosing dementia, including biomarker tests, and found these costs are not fully reimbursed. It is about diagnostic costs, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 32/100
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.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Fortschritte der Neurologie · Psychiatrie: journal h-index 48 (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 | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 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 | 1 / 7 | Cited 3 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.5 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Lucrezia Hausner: h-index 32 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Imperial College London: institution h-index 1,744 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 34 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35858613) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 32 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1055/a-1871-9889
- PubMed: 35858613
- Original source →
- Free full text: GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) →
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Onur Oezguer, A., Claus, W.-M., von Arnim Christine A, F., Frank, J., Fink Gereon, R., Jens, W., et al. (2022). [The Cost of Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline in German Memory Clinics]. Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1871-9889
Vancouver
Onur Oezguer A, Claus W.-M, von Arnim Christine A F, Frank J, Fink Gereon R, Jens W, et al. [The Cost of Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline in German Memory Clinics]. Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie. 2022. doi:10.1055/a-1871-9889. PMID: 35858613.
BibTeX
@article{onuroezguer2022-35858613,
author = {Onur Oezguer, A. and Claus, Wolff-Menzler and von Arnim Christine A, F. and Frank, Jessen and Fink Gereon, R. and Jens, Wiltfang and Christoph, Laske and Anja, Schneider and others},
title = {{[The Cost of Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline in German Memory Clinics]}},
journal = {Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1055/a-1871-9889},
pmid = {35858613},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1871-9889}
}
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