OBJECTIVE: Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have progressive cognitive, functional, and behavioral decline, resulting in increased reliance on caregivers for assistance with activities of daily living. Galantamine, a novel treatment for AD with a dual mode of action (acetylcholinesterase inhibition and allosteric nicotinic receptor modulation), has demonstrated benefits on cognition, global function, activities of daily living, and behavioral symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. The objective of this study was to determine differences in caregiving time between caregivers of AD patients receiving galantamine and those receiving no treatment. METHODS: The analysis was based on data from the AD Caregiver Project survey. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire distributed in December 2001 to a large national sample of unpaid caregivers. Caregiver time was defined as the number of hours spent by the primary caregiver during a typical week. Only patients living in the community were included in the analysis. Using linear regression, caregiving times for galantamine-treated and untreated patients were compared. Covariates included patient and caregiver demographics, including employment status and income level, and patient disease severity, functional status, and living situation. RESULTS: Galantamine patients (N=97) differed from untreated patients (N=803) with regard to gender (61% vs 35% males), age (74.1 vs 79.6 years), and living situation (1% vs 6% living alone). Caregivers of galantamine patients were older (66.3 vs 59.2 years) and more likely to be a spouse (77% vs 33%). After controlling for differences between the groups, caregivers of galantamine patients provided 18 fewer hours of care per week than caregivers of untreated patients (95% CI: 3.3-32.5, p=0.016). CONCLUSION: Compared with untreated patients, patients treated with galantamine appear to require significantly less caregiving time.