Study type

Study topic

Disease /health condition

Study type

Non-interventional study

Scope of the study

Disease epidemiology

Data collection methods

Secondary use of data
Non-interventional study

Non-interventional study design

Cohort
Study drug and medical condition

Medical condition to be studied

Dementia Alzheimer's type
Population studied

Short description of the study population

The study population for objectives 1 and 5b will include individuals with incident AD and with AD
treatment initiation between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2023.The study population for objectives 2, 3b, 4a–b,
4d, and 5a will include individuals in the data source with incident AD, defined as a first diagnosis of AD
between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2023 with at least 365 days of database history prior to the date of the
first diagnosis of AD (index date) and aged ≥18 years at index date. The study population for objective 3a
will include individuals with incident AD between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2023 and no history of AD
treatment prior to the first diagnosis of AD. The study population for objective 4c will include individuals
with incident AD between 01/01/2014 and 31/12/2023 and no history of caregiver support prior to the first
diagnosis of AD.

Age groups

  • Adult and elderly population (≥18 years)
    • Adults (18 to < 65 years)
      • Adults (18 to < 46 years)
      • Adults (46 to < 65 years)
    • Elderly (≥ 65 years)
      • Adults (65 to < 75 years)
      • Adults (75 to < 85 years)
      • Adults (85 years and over)
Study design details

Study design

This study will be conducted using routinely collected data from five primary/secondary care data sources
in the DARWIN EU® network of data partners from four European countries

Main study objective

Objective 1. To characterise treatments received by individuals newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, in the year, three, and five years following diagnosis.
Objective 2. To describe the timing and frequency of relevant clinical and care-related events following Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, including (when available):
Hospitalisations at fixed time points (e.g., 1-, 3-, and 5-years post-diagnosis)
Healthcare system utilisation (number of outpatient visits at 1-, 3-, and 5-years post-diagnosis)
Time to first record of caregiver support
Time to nursing home or hospice admission
Death at fixed time points (e.g., 1-, 3-, and 5-years post-diagnosis)
Objective 3. To describe time to death from first initiation of treatment following Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis

Outcomes

prescription of a pharmacological treatments for AD (objectives 2 and 3), occurrence of clinical and care-related events (objective 4), and survival (objective 5). The pharmacological treatments of interest are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine), memantine, and antipsychotics. The clinical and care-related events of interest are hospitalisation, outpatient visit, and caregiver support.