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Informal costs of dementia care: estimates from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study
Moore MJ, Zhu CW, Clipp EC.. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2001-07-01
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
Objectives The purpose of the study was to examine on a national level the informal costs of caring for elderly community-dwelling male veterans with dementia by female caregivers and the relationships between informal costs and disease severity, and between informal costs and dementia problem behaviors. Methods Female primary caregivers were drawn from the first wave (N = 2043) of the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study, a survey of informal caregivers of elderly male veterans diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia. Cost measures include the following four items: value of caregiving time, caregiver's lost income, out-of-pocket expenditures for formal caregiving services, and caregiver's excess health costs. Disease severity was indexed by the number of impairments in activities of daily living. Patient's problem behaviors were measured using the Behavior Rating Scale-Dementia. Results The annual cost of providing informal care to elderly community-dwelling veterans with dementia was estimated to be $18,385 per patient in 1998. The larger components of this cost are caregiving time ($6,295) and caregiver's lost earnings ($10,709). All aspects of costs increase with disease severity and problem behavior. Most of this cost increase derives from the increased caregiving time required for the provision of physical care. Discussion This study provides a comprehensive estimate of the excess costs that result from providing informal dementia care in the community. Unlike previous studies, our estimates excluded costs that caregivers would have incurred if they had not been caregivers. Therefore, results reported here reflect only costs due to informal dementia care.
Key findings
- Results The annual cost of providing informal care to elderly community-dwelling veterans with dementia was estimated to be $18,385 per patient in 1998.
- Discussion This study provides a comprehensive estimate of the excess costs that result from providing informal dementia care in the community.
- Therefore, results reported here reflect only costs due to informal dementia care.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants2,043
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 62 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2001 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 2,043 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11445614) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 36 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 62 out of 100. |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Moore, M. J., Zhu, C. W., & Clipp, E. C. (2001). Informal costs of dementia care: estimates from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/56.4.s219
Vancouver
Moore MJ, Zhu CW, Clipp EC. Informal costs of dementia care: estimates from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. 2001. doi:10.1093/geronb/56.4.s219. PMID: 11445614.
BibTeX
@article{moore2001-11445614,
author = {Moore, M. J. and Zhu, C. W. and Clipp, E. C.},
title = {{Informal costs of dementia care: estimates from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Study}},
journal = {The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences},
year = {2001},
doi = {10.1093/geronb/56.4.s219},
pmid = {11445614},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/56.4.s219}
}