Retrospective estimate of the nursing cost of autonomy impairment and cost benefit in clinical trials: feasibility and application of piracetam in demented elderly patients.

The aims of this study were to determine whether the nursing costs of functional disability could be assessed retrospectively and, if so, whether this method was sensitive enough to show the influence of a treatment on economic costs. Four studies were available for this purpose: three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trials measuring, among others, the influence of piracetam on activities of daily living (ADL) of elderly demented patients in Italy, Austria, and Belgium, and one large population-based survey measuring the costs of providing basic nursing, hygienic, and therapeutic needs to 6000 elderly according to ADL scores. The items on the different ADL scales used in each trial were recoded to a common denominator, and an overall dependency score was calculated for each patient.