Cost-effectiveness of the special care unit for persons with dementia.

Cohort studyThe journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease· Aug 2026

Cost-effectiveness of the special care unit for persons with dementia.

Ron Handels, Bernhard Michalowsky, Aline Mendes … RECage consortium collaborators

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Cognitive & DementiaCohort studyClinical practiceQ1IF 6.0

Special care units for dementia behavioral symptoms cost €24,960 more per patient, with fewer quality-adjusted life years.

Cost-effectiveness of the special care unit for persons with dementia.

Ron Handels … RECage consortium collaborators

The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · Aug 2026 · Q1 in Neurology

Purpose

We aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the patient-centered special care unit for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (SCU-B) in the Respectful Caring for the Agitated Elderly (RECage) study.

Methods

A health-economic evaluation was performed alongside a controlled European multicenter three-year longitudinal cohort study enrolling 508 participants in a non-SCU-B cohort and SCU-B cohort.

n = 508 participants

Results

special dementia care units cost more without improving quality of life

MD -0.13 (95% CI -0.23 to -0.02)

null 0

-0.23

-0.02

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Base case and sensitivity analyses indicated the SCU-B was likely not cost-effective.

DISCUSSION: Widespread implementation as well as disinvestment of SCU-B cannot be recommended, given the uncertainty of the study results.

“

Conclusion

We recommend a randomized study stratified by (local/county) region for conclusive evidence.

Cost-effectiveness of the special care unit for persons with dementia.

Cost-effectiveness of the special care unit for persons with dementia.

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