Economics of the Iceberg- Informal Care Provided to French Elderly with Dementia

Jun 1, 2015, 00:00 AM
10.1016/j.jval.2015.01.002
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(15)00011-X/fulltext
Section Title : Economic Evaluation
Section Order : 3
First Page : 368

Objectives

Dementia has a substantial effect on patients and their relatives, who have to cope with medical, social, and economic changes. In France, most elderly people with dementia live in the community and receive informal care, which has not been well characterized.

Methods

Using a sample of 4680 people aged 75 years and older collected in 2008 through a national comprehensive survey on health and disability, we compared the economic value of the care received by 513 elderly people with dementia to that received by a propensity score– matched set of older people without dementia.

Results

More than 85% of elderly people with dementia receive informal care; the estimation of its economic value ranges from €4.9 billion (proxy good method) to €6.7 billion (opportunity cost method) per year.

Conclusions

The informal care provided to people with dementia has substantial annual costs; further work should be done to examine the social and economic roles foregone as a result of this care.

https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/action/showCitFormats?pii=S1098-3015(15)00011-X&doi=10.1016/j.jval.2015.01.002
HEOR Topics :
  • Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
  • Economic Evaluation
  • Mental Health
  • Specific Diseases & Conditions
Tags :
  • ADL
  • cost
  • count models
  • dementia
  • IADL
  • informal care
  • need for care
  • opportunity cost method
  • propensity score matching
  • proxy good method
Regions :
  • Africa
  • Eastern and Central Europe
  • Middle East
  • Western Europe