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@ARTICLE{Platen:282629,
author = {Platen, Moritz and Gläser, Eva and Dahling, Volker and
Gesell, Daniela and Hauptmann, Michael and
Horenkamp-Sonntag, Dirk and Koller, Daniela and Kubat,
Denise and Marschall, Ursula and Riederer, Cordula and
Scheibner, Hannah and Schroth, Jennifer and Swart, Enno and
Michalowsky, Bernhard},
title = {{R}egional disparities of antidementia drug treatment in
{G}ermany: what can we learn for the new generation of
{A}lzheimer's therapies.},
journal = {Alzheimer's research $\&$ therapy},
volume = {17},
number = {1},
issn = {1758-9193},
address = {London},
publisher = {BioMed Central},
reportid = {DZNE-2025-01365},
pages = {259},
year = {2025},
abstract = {Current antidementia drugs can temporarily slow cognitive
decline in Alzheimer's disease but are underused. Regional
and socioeconomic disparities, including limited specialist
access in rural or deprived areas, may exacerbate inequities
and challenge the rollout of emerging disease-modifying
therapies. This study aimed to evaluate associations between
regional contextual factors and antidementia drug
prescription (AD-Rx) among newly diagnosed people living
with Alzheimer's disease (PlwAD) in Germany and to identify
spatial clustering of prescribing patterns.This study
analyzed anonymized claims data from three statutory health
insurers for 53,753 PlwAD who received their first diagnosis
between January 2020 and December 2022. Regions, defined by
three-digit postal codes (ZIP3, n = 576), were categorized
by the German Index of Socioeconomic Deprivation (GISD)
quintiles and Degree of Urbanization (urban, suburban,
rural). Multilevel logistic regression with random
intercepts for ZIP3 was used to assess associations between
receiving AD-Rx (dichotomous) and urbanization and
deprivation, adjusting for age, sex, the Charlson
Comorbidity Index, the long-term care level and the year of
diagnosis. Global Moran's I was used to evaluate large-scale
spatial clustering, and regional Moran's I was calculated to
detect regional hotspots and coldspots.Overall, $64\%$ of
PlwAD received at least one AD-Rx. Rural residency was
associated with slightly lower odds of receiving AD-Rx
compared to urban areas (OR 0.92; $95\%CI$ 0.87-0.98; p =
0.010), whereas deprivation was not. Interaction models
demonstrated that an increased deprivation further reduced
AD-Rx odds in rural areas (OR per GISD unit = 0.98; $95\%$
CI 0.96-0.99; p = 0.024). Global Moran's I revealed no
significant large-scale clustering (I = 0.011; p = 0.613),
but regional analysis identified several regional hotspots
(high-high clusters) predominantly in moderately deprived
urban areas and coldspots (low-low clusters) in highly
deprived or rural areas.Alzheimer's patients in rural and
high-deprivation regions face limited access to recommended
antidementia medications. Targeted interventions, such as
teleconsultations, expanding specialist outreach, and
collaborative care models in underserved areas, as well as
regional dementia networks and national registries, could
promote the equitable delivery of current and future
Alzheimer's antibody therapies. However, further qualitative
and quantitative research is needed to identify the
underlying regional causes of these treatment
disparities.DRKS00031944.},
keywords = {Humans / Germany: epidemiology / Alzheimer Disease: drug
therapy / Alzheimer Disease: epidemiology / Male / Female /
Aged / Healthcare Disparities: statistics $\&$ numerical
data / Aged, 80 and over / Rural Population / Nootropic
Agents: therapeutic use / Socioeconomic Factors / Middle
Aged / Alzheimer’s disease (Other) / Antidementia drug
treatment (Other) / Deprivation (Other) / Disease-modifying
treatments, geographical variation, spatial analysis (Other)
/ Healthcare disparities (Other) / Real-world data (Other) /
Real-world evidence (Other) / Rural population (Other) /
Nootropic Agents (NLM Chemicals)},
cin = {AG Michalowsky},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)5000067},
pnm = {353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-353},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:41345718},
pmc = {pmc:PMC12696915},
doi = {10.1186/s13195-025-01902-8},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/282629},
}