An estimation of the value of informal care provided to dependent people in Spain

The Economic Value of Caregiving in Chile

Population aging will increase the demand for long-term care services. Many countries, including Chile, have not implemented comprehensive responses to address these demands, relying on informal care. This article aims to estimate the economic value of caregiving in Chile, contributing to filling a gap in the literature and the policy debate. Economic value is estimated using replacement and opportunity cost approaches using two nationally representative databases: one survey on time use (to estimate hours of caregiving) and one on socioeconomic characterization (to identify caregivers and wages). Regressions for the determinants of caregiving effort and wages in the formal labor market are used to calculate the market value of caregiving time. Results show that the yearly value of caregiving ranges between US$266 million (when assuming a wage equal to the minimum wage for all caregivers) and US$4,946 million (when replacing all caregivers with nurses), i.e. between 0.11% and 1.95% of the country's gross domestic product. The analysis provides several estimations of the economic value of caregivers in Chile and, even considering these calculations can be underestimated, the results show the need to highlight and value the contribution of caregivers and implement policies to address the increase in long-term care needs in the country.

Informal care at old age at home and in nursing homes: determinants and economic value

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of informal care receipt by the French individuals aged 60 or older. The literature has focused on the community, leaving informal care in residential care settings in the shadow. We leverage data from a representative survey (CARE) conducted in 2015-2016 on both community-dwelling individuals and nursing home residents. Focusing on the 60+ with activity restrictions, we show that 76% of nursing home residents receive help with the activities of daily living from relatives, against 55% in the community. The number of hours conditional on receipt is yet 3.5 times higher in the community. Informal care represents 186 million hours per month and a value equivalent to 1.1% of GDP at least, care in the community representing 95% of the total. We investigate the determinants of informal care receipt. Using an Oaxaca-type approach, we disentangle between two mechanisms explaining that nursing home residents are more likely to receive informal care, namely the differences in population composition (endowments) and the differences in the association of individual characteristics with informal care (coefficients). Both are found to have a similar contribution. Our results imply that private costs make up for the majority (76%) of the costs associated with long-term care provision once informal care is taken into account. They also highlight that informal care is extremely common for nursing home residents. Existing evidence on the determinants of informal care receipt in the community has, however, limited relevance to understand informal care behaviors in nursing homes.

The value of healthy ageing: Estimating the economic value of health using time use data

INTRODUCTION

Economic arguments in favour of investing in health and health care are important for policy making, yet demonstrating the potential economic gains associated with health at older ages can be empirically challenging due to older peoples' limited attachment to the labour market.

METHODS

We develop a novel method to quantify the economic value of health through time use data. Using data on people aged 65 years-old and older from the United Kingdom Time Use Survey (UKTUS) 2014-15, we apply survey-weighted generalized linear models to predict the time spent in non-market productive activities conditional on characteristics including age and self-perceived health. We weight these estimates of predicted minutes spent in each activity using household satellite accounts to quantify the monetary value of time spent engaging in non-market productive activities according to health status and simulate the monetary impact of health gains at older ages.

RESULTS

Both age and self-perceived health status were associated with minutes spent in many non-market productive activities. Summing the monetized predictions of minutes spent across all types of activities indicates that being in "very good" instead of "very bad" self-perceived health is associated with an additional production of 439£, 629£ and 598£ (in real 2015 GBP) per month for an average individual aged 65 to 74 years-old, 75 to 84 years-old and 85 years-old and older, respectively. Using our simulation model, if 10% of older people in "very bad" health in the United Kingdom were to transition to "very good" health it could lead to an increase of up to 278£ million through the production of non-market activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Health at older ages creates considerable economic value which is not observed using standard national accounting measures. Our method to quantify the monetary value of health can be adapted to other settings to make the economic case for investing in healthy ageing.

Cost-effectiveness of a bone substitute delivering gentamicin in the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis of long bones: Protocol for the CONVICTION randomized multicenter study

Introduction

Chronic osteomyelitis is a serious osteoarticular infection that most often occurs in the long bones, responsible for significant morbidity with the risk of fracture and amputation. Despite advances in both antibiotics and surgical treatment, the probability of recurrence of infection remains at around 20%. Cerament-G (BONESUPPORT AB, Sweden) is a synthetic bone substitute that fills the bone void left by surgery, prevents infection and promotes bone regeneration within this space. Cerament-G also provides the local delivery of high doses of gentamicin over several weeks. Two prospective observational studies described a number of infectious recurrences of 4 and 5% after the use of Cerament-G. Although available in France, Cerament-G is currently not reimbursed and its high cost constitutes a barrier to its use. We hypothesize that the use of Cerament-G will lead to fewer costs to the collectivity while improving patient utility and, as an innovative strategy, will be superior to standard of care on recurrence of infection.

Methods and analysis

The Conviction Study is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, single blind study conducted in 14 French Reference Centers for Complex Osteoarticular infections. The main objective is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using Cerament-G in the treatment of chronic long bone osteomyelitis by comparing this innovative strategy to standard of care. A cost-utility analysis from the collective perspective will be conducted over a 24-month time horizon after the initial surgery. The outcome for the main medico-economic evaluation will be Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs).

Discussion

The study is being conducted throughout the CRIOAc network in France, in referral centers for the management of complex infections which will facilitate patient recruitment. This study has several limitations: the investigators have to be trained to handle the device, and it was impossible to blind the surgeon.

Conclusion

If the use of Cerament-G is demonstrated to be superior to leaving the dead space empty during surgery for patients with stage III chronic long bone osteomyelitis, its use will be recommended to improve the prognosis of such patients, and this device may eventually qualify for reimbursement through the French Health Insurance scheme.

Ethics and dissemination

This protocol received authorization from the Ethics Committee CPP Sud Méditerranée V on April 27, 2021 (21.03.10.77652) and the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products on May 6, 2021 (2020-A02299-30). Results will be disseminated to the scientific community through congresses and publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Making visible the cost of informal caregivers' time in Latin America: a case study for major cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory diseases in eight countries

BACKGROUND

Informal care is a key element of health care and well-being for society, yet it is scarcely visible and rarely studied in health economic evaluations. This study aims to estimate the time use and cost associated with informal care for cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia and ten different cancers in eight Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru).

METHODS

We carried out an exhaustive literature review on informal caregivers' time use, focusing on the selected diseases. We developed a survey for professional caregivers and conducted expert interviews to validate this data in the local context. We used an indirect estimate through the interpolation of the available data, for those cases in which we do not found reliable information. We used the proxy good method to estimate the monetary value of the use of time of informal care. National household surveys databases were processed to obtain the average wage per hour of a proxy of informal caregiver. Estimates were expressed in 2020 US dollars.

RESULTS

The study estimated approximately 1,900 million hours of informal care annually and $ 4,300 million per year in average informal care time cost for these fifteen diseases and eight countries analyzed. Cardiovascular diseases accounted for an informal care burden that ranged from 374 to 555 h per year, while cancers varied from 512 to 1,825 h per year. The informal care time cost share on GDP varied from 0.26% (Mexico) to 1.38% (Brazil), with an average of 0.82% in the studied American countries. Informal care time cost represents between 16 and 44% of the total economic cost (direct medical and informal care cost) associated with health conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows that there is a significant informal care economic burden -frequently overlooked- in different chronic and acute diseases in Latin American countries; and highlights the relevance of including the economic value of informal care in economic evaluations of healthcare.

Components of case management in caring for patients with dementia: a mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Case management has shown improvements in some health outcomes for dementia patients and their families. However, despite its benefits the components of case management in order to provide effective patient and family care remain unknown at present. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the specific components of case management in caring for patients with dementia and to determine the necessary intensity of its deployment to enhance outcomes for these patients and their caregivers.

METHODS

Mixed-methods study with a qualitative phase to characterise forms of service provision, according to the case management components involved, followed by a quantitative phase to analyse the correlations between different patterns of service provision, adverse events in patients and caregiver overload. This study will be based on the variables described in the RANGE.COM register.

DISCUSSION

This research is expected to achieve a reproducible, evaluable set of interventions that can be modelled to optimise case management effectiveness for patients with dementia. Interactions between patients with dementia, their family caregivers and case management healthcare services, the components of these interactions and their association with the conditions of the individuals concerned are issues of great interest in the field of case management, which is constantly evolving.

Health-related quality of life in caregivers of community-dwelling individuals with disabilities or chronic conditions. A gender-differentiated analysis in a cross-sectional study

Background

Most care for people with chronic or disabling conditions living in the community is provided in the family context, and this care is traditionally provided by women. Providing informal care has a negative impact on caregivers’ quality of life, which adds to existing health inequalities associated with gender. The aim of this study was to analyze factors associated with the health-related quality of life of caregivers and to determine their differences in a gender-differentiated analysis.

Methods

An observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted in primary healthcare. A total of 218 caregivers aged 65 years or older were included, all of whom assumed the primary responsibility for caring for people with disabling conditions for at least 6 months per year and agreed to participate in the CuidaCare study. The dependent variable was health-related quality of life, assessed with the EQ-5D. The explanatory variables tested were grouped into sociodemographic variables, subjective burden, caregiving role, social support and variables related to the dependent person. The associations between these variables and health-related quality of life were estimated by fitting robust linear regression models. Separate analyses were conducted for women and men.

Results

A total of 72.8% of the sample were women, and 27.2% were men. The mean score on the EQ-5D for female caregivers was 0.64 (0.31); for male caregivers, it was 0.79 (0.23). There were differences by gender in the frequency of reported problems in the dimensions of pain/comfort and anxiety/depression. The variables that were associated with quality of life also differed. Having a positive depression screening was negatively associated with quality of life for both genders: -0.31 points (95% CI: -0.47; -0.15) for female caregivers and -0.48 points (95% CI: -0.92; -0.03) for male caregivers. Perceived burden was associated with quality of life in the adjusted model for women (-0.12 points; 95% CI: -0.19; -0.06), and domestic help was associated in the adjusted model for male caregivers (-0.12 points; 95% CI: -0.19; -0.05).

Conclusions

Gender differences are present in informal caregiving. The impact of providing informal care is different for male and female caregivers, and so are the factors that affect their perceived quality of life. It could be useful it incorporates a gender perspective in the design of nursing support interventions for caregivers to individualize care and improve the quality of life of caregivers.

Trial registration

NCT 01478295 [https://ClinicalTrials.gov]. 23/11/2011.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-022-00845-x.

A Systematic Review of the Indirect and Social Costs in Early and Young Onset Dementias

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization has estimated that worldwide around 50 million people have dementia. The World Alzheimer Report estimated that between 2 and 10% of all cases of dementia begin before the age of 65. Early and young onset dementias (EYOD) provoke more working, social, family, and economic consequences than late onset dementias. All general studies about costs of dementias show that most of them are indirect or social costs. Despite that, very few studies have been performed in EYOD.

OBJECTIVE

To do a systematic review of literature about indirect or social costs in EYOD to know the state of knowledge and to discover gaps that should be filled.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed in the main database: Scopus, PsychInfo, Web of Science (Web of Science Core Collection, Medline and SciELO), and CINAHL. Additionally, we looked for reviews in Cochrane and in the International Prospective Register Of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO).

RESULTS

Most of the studies are about costs of dementias in general, but they do no differentiate costs for the case of EYOD. Many studies highlight the increased costs for EYOD but very little included evidence of that. 135 papers were selected. Finally, only two were studies providing data. EYOD reduce the odds to get or maintain a job. Most of the care is provided by informal caregivers. The costs in EYOD are 39.26% higher among EYOD than in late onset.

CONCLUSION

There is a lack of studies about social and indirect costs in EYOD. More evidence is needed.

The Frailty of the Invincible

The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled the frailty of our societies from too many points of view to look away. We need to understand why we were all caught unprepared. On the one hand, we have all short memories. As we forget too quickly, we were unable to recognize key factors influencing response and preparedness to public health threats. For many years, economic evaluation pushed governments all over the world to cut resources for public health systems, with COVID-19 pandemic the question arises: do we spend too much or too little on health care? What is the right amount to spend on health? Moreover, in many countries, the privatisation, or semi-privatisation, of healthcare may give rise to inequitable access to health care for everyone. Although COVID-19 is very “democratic”, its consequences aren’t. According to OECD, income inequality in OECD countries is at its highest level for the past half century. Three main causes have been recognized, technological revolution, globalization, and “financialisation”.

In this scenario, lockdown measures adopted to save lives are showing dramatic economic consequences. To address post COVID-19 reconstruction we need to go beyond GDP. As an economic measure this has many shortcomings in describing the real well-being of a country, and since what we measure affects what we do, new paradigms will have to guide the post COVID-19 reconstruction strategies, as the fate of countries and their citizens is at stake.

Design and validation of an electrophysiological based tool to assess chronic stress. Case study: burnout syndrome in caregivers

Caregiver burnout syndrome is an increasingly seen condition, although the subjective nature of self-administered psychometric tests and the lack of a consensual diagnostic tool might hinder a proper diagnosis. The availability of objective psychosomatic measures of stress might facilitate the early diagnosis and clinical management of these patients. For this reason, the aim of this work was to develop a quantitative tool to evaluate the stress level of caregivers in a noninvasive and repeatable manner. An observational, controlled, matched study was designed including a group of 38 principal caregivers of chronic patients and a control group of 38 non-caregivers. Psychometric, biochemical, and electrophysiological data were analyzed along with sociodemographic data. A quantitative chronic stress reference scale (CSRs) was constructed based on the weighted contribution of several psychometric and biochemical variables and afterwards, a predictive psychosomatic model (ESBSm) correlated with CSRs was elaborated from extracted variables of several electrophysiological signals monitored for 10 min. The resulting CSR scale shows a high power to discriminate caregivers from the control group while the ESBSm shows a 79% correlation with the CSR scale validated through a 5-fold process. Therefore, the results demonstrate that the ESBS model is an objective and validated tool to diagnose the degree of stress linked to burnout in caregivers of chronic patients from a 10-min session of noninvasive monitoring with a reliability equivalent to the questionnaires currently used to quantify stress in caregivers.

Dependent, Poorer, and More Care-Demanding? An Analysis of the Relationship between Being Dependent, Household Income, and Formal and Informal Care Use in Spain

Population ageing is one of the current challenges that most societies are facing, with great implications for health systems and social services, including long-term care. This increasing long-term care use is particularly rising for dependent older people, motivating the implementation of regional dependency laws to ensure their care needs’ coverage. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from the year 2004 until 2017, the aim of this study is to assess the impact that the Spanish System for Personal Autonomy and Dependency might have on (i) household income, according to different needs for care levels, by running Generalized Linear Models (GLMs); and (ii) formal and informal care use depending on the income-related determinant through the performance of logit random-effects regression models. We show that the different degrees of needs for personal care are associated with a lower household income, being associated with an income reduction from €3300 to nearly €3800, depending on the covariates included, per year for the more severely in-need-for-care older adults. Moreover, our findings point towards a higher use of formal and informal care services by the moderate and severe dependents groups, regardless of the household income group and time period. Bearing in mind the demographic ageing, our results highlight the need for the identification of potentially vulnerable populations and the efficient planification of long-term care systems and social support services.

The Challenge of Sustaining Long-term Care in Aging Societies: Lessons From Japan and Spain Comment on "Financing Long-term Care: Lessons From Japan"

This article compares the provision of long-term care (LTC) in Japan and Spain, two countries with similar demographic structures but which address the provision of LTCs in very different ways. Both countries provide universal LTC. However, Japan has developed a generous benefit package of formal services for dependents to alleviate the care burden on the family, but provides no cash benefits. In Spain, on the other hand, cash allowances are the norm rather than the exception in the practical implementation of LTC services. After discussing the necessary delineation of LTC in response to future sociodemographic challenges, we discuss LTC system characteristics and the recent cost containment reforms implemented in Japan and Spain. Finally, we consider the lessons that may be drawn from each country’s experience and the reforms that must be undertaken in order ensure the sustainability of LTC provision in other countries with incipient or more developed LTC systems. In addition, since Japan and Spain are both faced with challenging demographic projections, it is important for each country to learn from the other’s initiatives and reforms.

Patients' productivity losses and informal care costs related to ischemic stroke: a French population-based study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Large societal costs of stroke should not be ignored. We aimed to estimate patients' productivity losses and informal care costs during the first year after ischemic stroke.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was performed within the STROKE69 regional population-based cohort study. At 1 year post-stroke, each patient and the corresponding main informal caregiver received questionnaires followed by a telephone interview if necessary. Time losses were valued using the human capital approach and proxy good method for patients with and without a professional activity, respectively.

RESULTS

Among the 222 patients with ischemic stroke (58% men; mean age 68 years; and 86% with a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of <3 at 3 months), 54%, 32%, and 25% received informal, formal, and both cares, respectively. Among the 108 main informal caregivers, 63% were women, 74% lived with the patient, and 57% were retired or unemployed. The mean cost of productivity losses was estimated at €7589 ± €12 305 per patient in the first post-stroke year with 5.4%, 71.2%, and 23.4% of these being attributed to presenteeism, absenteeism, and leisure time, respectively. Informal care was given at an average of 25 h/week. The annual mean estimated total cost of informal care was €10 635 per caregiver.

CONCLUSIONS

Informal care and productivity losses of patients with ischemic stroke during the first post-stroke year represent a significant economic burden for society comparable to direct costs. These costs should be included in economic evaluations with the adoption of a societal perspective to avoid underestimating the societal stroke economic burden.

The Frailty of the Invincible

The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled the frailty of our societies from too many points of view to look away. We need to understand why we were all caught unprepared. On the one hand, we have all short memories. As we forget too quickly, we were unable to recognize key factors influencing response and preparedness to public health threats. For many years, economic evaluation pushed governments all over the world to cut resources for public health systems, with COVID-19 pandemic the question arises: do we spend too much or too little on health care? What is the right amount to spend on health? Moreover, in many countries, the privatisation, or semi-privatisation, of healthcare may give rise to inequitable access to health care for everyone. Although COVID-19 is very "democratic", its consequences aren't. According to OECD, income inequality in OECD countries is at its highest level for the past half century. Three main causes have been recognized, technological revolution, globalization, and "financialisation". In this scenario, lockdown measures adopted to save lives are showing dramatic economic consequences. To address post COVID-19 reconstruction we need to go beyond GDP. As an economic measure this has many shortcomings in describing the real well-being of a country, and since what we measure affects what we do, new paradigms will have to guide the post COVID-19 reconstruction strategies, as the fate of countries and their citizens is at stake.

Shadow and extended shadow cost sharing associated to informal long-term care: the case of Spain

BACKGROUND

A large part of the long-term care is provided by non-professional caregivers, generally without any monetary payment but a value economic of time invested. The economic relevance of informal caregivers has been recognized in Spain; however, public provision may still be scarce. The objective of this paper is to estimate the economic burden associated with informal long-term care that should assume the families through a new concept of cost sharing that consider opportunity costs of time provided by informal caregivers.

METHODS

The study sample includes all dependent adults in Spain. Socioeconomic information and the number of hours of informal care was collected through the Spanish Disability and Dependency Survey. The terms of shadow and extended shadow cost sharing were defined as the difference between the maximum potential amount of money that families could receive for the provision of informal care and the amount that actually they received and the value of informal care time with respect to the amount received, respectively.

RESULTS

53.87% of dependent persons received an economic benefit associated to informal care. The average weekly hours of care were 71.59 (92.62 without time restrictions). Shadow cost sharing amounted to, on average, two thirds, whereas the State financed the remaining third. In terms of extended shadow cost sharing, the State financed between 3% and 10% of informal care provided by caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reveals the deficient support received for the provision of informal care in Spain. More than 90% of informal care time is not covered by the economic benefits that families receive from the State.

A Qualitative View of Homecare Support Workers on Unmet Health Needs of People with Dependency

Background: Longevity and population growth generate an increase in the number of people with dependency, who require homecare assistance to meet their health needs. Homecare support workers provide this care in Spain, and they may have unique insights into the unmet health needs of those receiving homecare assistance. The aim of this study was to determine the unmet health needs of people with dependency based on the perspective of homecare support workers. Methods: Qualitative exploratory-descriptive study. Through convenience sampling, homecare support workers from a Spanish province were selected, following inclusion and exclusion criteria. Four focus groups, transcription and thematic analyses were performed using Atlas.ti. Coding triangulation was carried out, applying criteria for scientific rigour. Results: The six themes obtained were classified into the material, psychoemotional, socioeconomical and psychosocial needs of people with dependency from the point of view of homecare support workers, along with the contributions of improvements and the need of these professionals for continuous training. Conclusions: People with dependency need complex technical assistance, materials, psychological attention due to their situation, and more effective assessments of their health and disability status. Homecare support workers perceive themselves to be essential in these assessments. They ask for psychological assistance, due to the emotional burden of their work, and believe this help would contribute to improving the quality of their service. Homecare support workers perceive that they are capable of performing their job, although they believe that some delegated activities are beyond their levels of competency.

Economic Problems and Loneliness as Factors Related to Subjective Unmet Health Needs in People with Chronic Diseases and Dependency

Background: The continuous increase of people with chronic diseases is one of the greatest challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. Population growth and life expectancy means that an increasing number of people with chronic diseases and dependency need some kind of assistance to meet their needs. Determining these subjective unmet needs helps to understand the situation of these people. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of chronic patients over 65 years of age from the day-care center toward subjective health needs that are not being met by the socio-health system. Methods: Qualitative exploratory-descriptive study. Through convenience sampling, we selected people with chronic diseases and dependency who used day-care centers and met the inclusion criteria. Focus groups were performed. The data were transcribed and a thematic analysis was carried out using Atlas.ti software. Results: The topics resulting from the analysis were classified into dissatisfaction of biological/physiological needs, psychological needs, social needs, and other issues that arose in both groups of participants which referred to the types of needs previously indicated. The issues related to social and psycho-social needs stood out. Conclusions: People with chronic diseases and dependency have their physiological needs covered with the help they receive, but their situation of dependency generates additional costs that worsen their economic situation. However, their greatest need is due to the loneliness they feel and the feeling they have of “being a burden” on their families.

Myocardial infarction: Economic, health, and social impacts on informal caregivers

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to measure the economic impact of informal care (IC) on caregivers assisting myocardial infarction (MI) survivors in France. Health and social impacts were also described.

METHODS

Data from the prospective 2008 Health and Disabilities Households Survey (Enquête Handicap-Santé), carried out among the French general population, were used to obtain information about patients with MI and their informal caregivers. To estimate the approximate monetary value of IC, three methods were used: the proxy good method, opportunity cost method (OCM), and contingent valuation method (CVM). A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the associations of the IC duration and the existence of professional care with the health indicators stated by caregivers.

RESULTS

The analysis included data from 147 caregivers. The mean value of IC ranged from €9,679 per year using the CVM to €11,288 per year using the OCM (p > .05). The mean willingness to pay for an additional hour of IC was €10.9 (SD = 8.3). A total of 46.2 percent of caregivers reported that IC negatively affected theirs physical condition, and 46.3 percent reported that it negatively affected their psychological health. In addition, 40.1 percent declared that caregiving activity made them anxious and 38.8 percent stated they felt alone. Associations were identified between the duration of IC and feeling the need to be replaced, feeling alone and making sacrifices (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Informal caregiver burden may be recognized in health technology assessment in order not to underestimate the cost of strategies and to facilitate the comparability of cost-effectiveness outcomes between studies.

How relevant are social costs in economic evaluations? The case of Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND

The main objective of this study was to analyse how the inclusion (exclusion) of social costs can alter the results and conclusions of economic evaluations in the field of Alzheimer's disease interventions.

METHODS

We designed a systematic review that included economic evaluations in Alzheimer's disease. The search strategy was launched in 2000 and ran until November 2018. The inclusion criteria were: being an original study published in a scientific journal, being an economic evaluation of any intervention related to Alzheimer's disease, including social costs (informal care costs and/or productivity losses), being written in English, using QALYs as an outcome for the incremental cost-utility analysis, and separating the results according to the perspective applied.

RESULTS

It was finally included 27 studies and 55 economic evaluations. Around 11% of economic evaluations changed their main conclusions. More precisely, three of them concluded that the new intervention became cost-effective when the societal perspective was considered, whereas when using just the health care payer perspective, the new intervention did not result in a cost-utility ratio below the threshold considered. Nevertheless, the inclusion of social cost can also influence the results, as 37% of the economic evaluations included became the dominant strategy after including social costs when they were already cost-effective in the health care perspective.

CONCLUSIONS

Social costs can substantially modify the results of the economic evaluations. Therefore, taking into account social costs in diseases such as Alzheimer's can be a key element in making decisions about public financing and pricing of health interventions.

Economic valuation of informal care provided to people after a myocardial infarction in France

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to estimate the mean cost per caregiver of informal care during the first year after myocardial infarction event in France.

METHODS

We used the Handicap-Santé French survey carried out in 2008 to obtain data about MI survivors and their caregivers. After obtaining the total number of informal care hours provided by caregiver during the first year after MI event, we estimated the value of informal care using the proxy good method and the contingent valuation method.

RESULTS

For MI people receiving informal care, an annual mean cost was estimated at €12,404 (SD = 13,012) with the proxy good method and €12,798 (SD = 13,425) with the contingent valuation method per caregiver during the first year after myocardial infarction event.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study suggests that informal care should be included more widely in economic evaluations in order not to underestimate the cost of diseases which induce disability.

The economic value of time of informal care and its determinants (The CUIDARSE Study)

Objective

The main aims of this paper are to analyse the monetary value of informal care time using different techniques and to identify significant variables associated with the number of caregiving hours.

Data and methods

A multicentre study in two Spanish regions in adult caregivers was conducted. A total sample of 604 people was available. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify the variables associated with the number of hours of caregiving time. In the monetary valuation of informal care provided, three approaches were used: replacement cost method, opportunity cost and contingent valuation (willingness to pay and willingness to accept).

Results

The main determinants of the amount of time of informal care provided were age, gender, the level of care receiver´s dependence and the professional care services received (at home and out of home). The value estimated for informal care time ranges from EUROS 80,247 (replacement cost method) to EUROS 14,325 (willingness to pay), with intermediate values of EUROS 27,140 and EUROS 29,343 (opportunity cost and willingness to accept, respectively). Several sensitivity analyses were performed over the base cases, confirming the previous results.

Conclusions

Time of informal care represents a great social value, regardless of the applied technique. However, the results can differ strongly depending on the technique chosen. Therefore, the choice of technique of valuation is not neutral. Among the determinants of informal care time, the professional care received at home has a complementary character to informal care, while the formal care outside the home has a substitute character.

A Comparison of Mental Health Care Systems in Northern and Southern Europe: A Service Mapping Study

Mental health services (MHS) have gone through vast changes during the last decades, shifting from hospital to community-based care. Developing the optimal balance and use of resources requires standard comparisons of mental health care systems across countries. This study aimed to compare the structure, personnel resource allocation, and the productivity of the MHS in two benchmark health districts in a Nordic welfare state and a southern European, family-centered country. The study is part of the REFINEMENT (Research on Financing Systems' Effect on the Quality of Mental Health Care) project. The study areas were the Helsinki and Uusimaa region in Finland and the Girona region in Spain. The MHS were mapped by using the DESDE-LTC (Description and Evaluation of Services and Directories for Long Term Care) tool. There were 6.7 times more personnel resources in the MHS in Helsinki and Uusimaa than in Girona. The resource allocation was more residential-service-oriented in Helsinki and Uusimaa. The difference in mental health personnel resources is not explained by the respective differences in the need for MHS among the population. It is important to make a standard comparison of the MHS for supporting policymaking and to ensure equal access to care across European countries.

Evaluation of chronic stress indicators in geriatric and oncologic caregivers: a cross-sectional study

Caregiving induces chronic stress with physical and psychological impact on informal caregivers health. Therefore, subjective and objective indicators are needed for the early diagnosis of pathologic stress to prevent the risk of developing stress-related diseases in caregivers. Our aim was to assess the self-perceived stress, that is, how and how much the stressor affects the individual, through endocrine, metabolic, and immunologic biomarkers levels in geriatric and oncologic informal caregivers. Informal caregivers and non-caregivers were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study at the Clinic Hospital of Barcelona. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics, self-perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Stress Visual Analogue Scale), and biomarkers (copeptin, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), cholesterol, triglycerides, α-amylase, cortisol, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and Interleukins (IL-6 and IL-10)) were evaluated. Descriptive and non-parametric statistical data analysis were performed. Fifty-six subjects (19 non-caregivers, 17 geriatric caregivers, and 20 oncologic caregivers) participated. Median age (IQR) was 57 years (47-66) and 71.46% were women. Self-perceived stress was higher in oncologic caregivers than geriatric caregivers in all psychometric test analyzed (Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, p value < .05). Glucose concentrations and glycated hemoglobin levels differed statistically among groups (Kruskal-Wallis test (K-W tests), p value < .05), even though the median levels were not clinically relevant. Levels of other biomarkers did not differ significantly (K-W tests, p value > .05). These findings suggest that perceived stress is not homogeneous in the caregivers community and thus these two groups could be differentiated. These results provide the baseline information to initiate social actions addressed to each group of caregivers to increase their wellbeing.

Making Implicit Assumptions Explicit in the Costing of Informal Care: The Case of Head and Neck Cancer in Ireland

BACKGROUND

From a health service perspective, informal care is often viewed as a potentially cost-effective way of transferring costs out of the formal healthcare sector. However, informal care is not a free resource.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to assess the impact of alternative valuation methods and key assumptions on the cost of informal care.

METHODS

Informal carers who assisted in the care of a head and neck cancer survivor for at least 1 year were sent a postal questionnaire during January-June 2014 requesting information on time spent on caring tasks in the month prior to the survey. Time was costed using the opportunity cost approach (OCA; base-case) and the generalist (GRCA) and specialist (SRCA) replacement cost approaches. The impact on results of how household work and informal carers not in paid employment are treated were investigated.

RESULTS

We estimated a cost of €20,613 annually in the base case (OCA - mean wage) for informal care. The GRCA and SRCA equivalent costs were 36% (€13,196) and 31% (€14,196) lower, respectively. In the extreme scenario of applying a 'zero' opportunity cost to carers not in paid employment, costs fell by 67% below the base case.

CONCLUSION

While the choice of costing method is important for monetary valuation, the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of the underlying population can be equally so. This is especially important given the heterogeneous treatment of older carers, female carers and carers not in paid employment in the OCA. To limit this, we would suggest using the SRCA to value informal care across heterogeneous carer populations.

The Valuation of Informal Care in Cost-of-Illness Studies: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

There is a growing interest in incorporating informal care in cost-of-illness studies as a relevant part of the economic impact of some diseases.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper was to review the recent literature valuating the costs of informal care in a group of selected diseases from 2005 to 2015.

METHODS

We carried out a systematic review on the economic impact of informal care, focusing on six selected diseases: arthritis or osteoarthritis, cancer, dementia, mental diseases, multiple sclerosis and stroke.

RESULTS

We selected 91 cost-of-illness articles. The average weight attributed to the informal care cost over the total cost was highly relevant for dementia, stroke, mental diseases, cancer and multiple sclerosis. The most frequent valuation method applied was the opportunity cost method, followed by the proxy good method. The annual cost of informal care presented a high variability depending on the disease and geographic location. Distinguishing by type of illness, the disease with the highest annual value of informal caregiving was dementia, followed by mental illness and multiple sclerosis. The average hourly unit cost was €11.43 (2015 values), varying noticeably depending on the geographic location.

CONCLUSION

This paper identifies several aspects that should be enhanced to promote comparability between studies and countries, and it sends key messages for incorporating informal care costs to adequately measure the economic impact of diseases.

Costs of informal care in a sample of German geriatric stroke survivors

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability. A large proportion of geriatric stroke survivors receive informal care. The assessment and monetary valuation of informal care should therefore constitute an essential part of any health economic analysis, but it is hardly measured in stroke caregiver studies. The aim of the current research was to estimate the amount of informal care provided by caregivers of stroke survivors aged 60 years and older and to calculate its economic value. Information about caregiving time in activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and supervision during the last 3 months was obtained from 122 caregivers by means of structured interviews. The proxy good method was applied for the monetary valuation of time. About 63 % of the stroke survivors in our sample were moderately cognitively impaired. The results showed that the majority of the main caregivers assisted in ADL and IADL. Supervision was delivered by 45.9 %. The median amount of help in ADL was 13.9, in IADL 22.2, and in supervision 13.9 h/week. The median overall amount of care was 42.8 h/week. Fifty percent were supported by additional persons (2.7 h/week). The mean overall costs of informal care were calculated at 2252 €/month. Our results reveal the high social and economic costs of informal care. The main burden of caregiving appears to be carried by the primary caregiver. Consequently, support and counseling of this group is important. Furthermore, caregiver interventions should be aimed at the mobilization of informal resources.