Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests
Background With the rapid demographic change in Korea, Alzheimer’s disease has become a primary concern. Recent developments in disease-modifying therapies provide hope that therapy may become available soon. The high disease prevalence and complex evaluation process will create challenges for the h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Korea Geriatrics Society
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.e-agmr.org/upload/pdf/agmr-20-0082.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818948606929928192 |
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| author | Hankyung Jun Sang Kyu Cho Joanne Yoong Soeren Mattke |
| author_facet | Hankyung Jun Sang Kyu Cho Joanne Yoong Soeren Mattke |
| author_sort | Hankyung Jun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background With the rapid demographic change in Korea, Alzheimer’s disease has become a primary concern. Recent developments in disease-modifying therapies provide hope that therapy may become available soon. The high disease prevalence and complex evaluation process will create challenges for the healthcare system already burdened by the current pandemic. This study examined the preparedness of the South Korean healthcare system to identify and treat patients when such a therapy becomes available. Methods We used a Markov model to simulate a stylized patient’s journey. Based on national data and expert input, we presented projections of the diagnosis and treatment wait times and respective queues of patients under treatment and no-treatment scenarios and further simulated the possible option of adopting a blood-based biomarker test. Results Under the current system, we estimated a peak waiting time of 14 months when a treatment became available, largely because of the limited number of dementia specialists. Adopting a blood-based biomarker test dramatically reduced the initial wait times by more than half. A disease-modifying therapy was estimated to avert 575,000 incident cases in the first 10 years after the treatment entered the market, and a blood-based test further avoided 86,000 additional cases. Conclusion South Korea’s healthcare infrastructure requires more preparation for the introduction of a disease-modifying therapy, with the primary capacity limitation being the low number of dementia specialists. The utilization of a blood-based test for Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers may be an effective solution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:49:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11dee7cb6c544de6856d551f431d8ed3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2508-4798 2508-4909 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:49:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Korea Geriatrics Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-11dee7cb6c544de6856d551f431d8ed32022-12-21T19:46:10ZengKorea Geriatrics SocietyAnnals of Geriatric Medicine and Research2508-47982508-49092021-03-01251333810.4235/agmr.20.0082951Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker TestsHankyung Jun0Sang Kyu Cho1Joanne Yoong2Soeren Mattke3 Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USABackground With the rapid demographic change in Korea, Alzheimer’s disease has become a primary concern. Recent developments in disease-modifying therapies provide hope that therapy may become available soon. The high disease prevalence and complex evaluation process will create challenges for the healthcare system already burdened by the current pandemic. This study examined the preparedness of the South Korean healthcare system to identify and treat patients when such a therapy becomes available. Methods We used a Markov model to simulate a stylized patient’s journey. Based on national data and expert input, we presented projections of the diagnosis and treatment wait times and respective queues of patients under treatment and no-treatment scenarios and further simulated the possible option of adopting a blood-based biomarker test. Results Under the current system, we estimated a peak waiting time of 14 months when a treatment became available, largely because of the limited number of dementia specialists. Adopting a blood-based biomarker test dramatically reduced the initial wait times by more than half. A disease-modifying therapy was estimated to avert 575,000 incident cases in the first 10 years after the treatment entered the market, and a blood-based test further avoided 86,000 additional cases. Conclusion South Korea’s healthcare infrastructure requires more preparation for the introduction of a disease-modifying therapy, with the primary capacity limitation being the low number of dementia specialists. The utilization of a blood-based test for Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers may be an effective solution.http://www.e-agmr.org/upload/pdf/agmr-20-0082.pdfalzheimer’s diseasecognitive dysfunctionbiomarkersrepublic of korea |
| spellingShingle | Hankyung Jun Sang Kyu Cho Joanne Yoong Soeren Mattke Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research alzheimer’s disease cognitive dysfunction biomarkers republic of korea |
| title | Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests |
| title_full | Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests |
| title_fullStr | Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests |
| title_short | Is Korea Prepared for an Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapy? Assessing the Korean Healthcare System Infrastructure and the Effect of Blood-Based Biomarker Tests |
| title_sort | is korea prepared for an alzheimer s disease modifying therapy assessing the korean healthcare system infrastructure and the effect of blood based biomarker tests |
| topic | alzheimer’s disease cognitive dysfunction biomarkers republic of korea |
| url | http://www.e-agmr.org/upload/pdf/agmr-20-0082.pdf |
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