Household members of persons with Alzheimer's disease: health conditions, healthcare resource use, and healthcare costs.

Objectives: To compare medical condition burden, healthcare resource use, and healthcare costs of household members (HHMs) of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with those of HHMs of matched individuals without AD.

Design: Retrospective cohort study based on administrative claims data collected between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2011.

Setting: Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan.

The clinical and economic burden of newly diagnosed Alzheimer's disease in a medicare advantage population.

Background/rationale: Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents a serious public health issue affecting approximately 5.4 million individuals in the United States and is projected to affect up to 16 million by 2050. This study examined health care resource utilization (HCRU), costs, and comorbidity burden immediately preceding new diagnosis of AD and 2 years after diagnosis.