Centre for Policy on Ageing



Informal costs of dementia care — estimates from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study
Author(s)	Michael J Moore, Carolyn W Zhu, Elizabeth C Clipp
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 56B, no 4, July 2001
Pages	pp S219-S228
Keywords	Dementia ; Older men ; Women as carers ; Costs [care] ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	2,043 female caregivers were drawn from the US National Longitudinal Caregiver Study, a survey of informal caregivers of male veterans diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) of vascular dementia (VaD). The annual cost of providing informal care was estimated at $18,385 per patient in 1998. The large components of this cost are caregiving time ($6,295), and caregiver's lost earnings ($10,709). All aspects of cost increase with disease severity and problem behaviour. Most of this cost increase derives from the increased caregiving time required in the provision of physical care. The study provides a comprehensive estimate of the excess costs that result from providing informal dementia care in the community. Unlike previous studies, estimates here excluded costs that caregivers would have incurred if they had not been caregivers, and thus reflect only costs due to informal dementia care. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010814209 A
Classmark	EA: BC: P6:SH: QDC: 3J: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.