The ACTIVE cognitive training trial and predicted medical expenditures

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Economics
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Older adults incur high and rising healthcare expenditures.
• The ACTIVE study investigated cognitive interventions' impact on medical costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of cognitive training interventions on predicted medical care expenditures in older adults.
• To assess the cost-offset of memory, reasoning, and speed of processing training.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial (ACTIVE) with 1,804 participants aged 65+.
• Propensity score weighting adjusted for attrition bias.
• Predicted annual medical expenditures were calculated using functional status scores and analyzed via multiple linear regression.

Main Results:

• Speed of processing training led to a $223 expenditure decline at one year (p=.024), but not at five years (p=.309).
• No significant changes in expenditures were observed for memory or reasoning training groups.
• Statistical adjustments did not alter the one-year ($244; p=.012) or five-year ($143; p=.250) expenditure trends for speed of processing.

Conclusions:

• Speed of processing intervention demonstrated a significant reduction in predicted medical care expenditures one year post-intervention.
• This cost-saving effect was not statistically significant at the five-year follow-up.