Association study between drug prescriptions and Alzheimer's disease claims in a commercial insurance database

In the ongoing effort to discover treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD), there has been considerable focus on investigating the use of repurposed drug candidates. Mining of electronic health record data has the potential to identify novel correlated effects between commonly used drugs and AD. In this study, claims from members with commercial health insurance coverage were analyzed to determine the correlation between the use of various drugs on AD incidence and claim frequency. We found that, within the insured population, several medications for psychotic and mental illnesses were associated with higher disease incidence and frequency, while, to a lesser extent, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs were associated with lower AD incidence rates. The observations thus provide a general overview of the prescription and claim relationships between various drug types and Alzheimer's disease, with insights into which drugs have possible implications on resulting AD diagnosis.

Automated summary

In the study, the use of repurposed drug candidates in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was investigated by mining electronic health record data. The analysis of claims from members with commercial health insurance coverage revealed correlations between the use of certain drugs and AD incidence and claim frequency. Medications for psychotic and mental illnesses were associated with higher disease incidence and frequency, while antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs were associated with lower AD incidence rates to some extent. These observations provide insights into the prescription and claim relationships between different drug types and Alzheimer's disease.