title: Patients with Alzheimer's disease living at home in France: costs and consequences of the disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) creates a substantial burden on human and financial resources. However, there are few data relating to the cost of AD in France. This retrospective study assesses the total costs of caring for home-based patients with mild to moderate AD. Pattern of care, sociodemographic data, caregiver burden, and estimated net costs of caring for AD patients were assessed in a stratified sample of 50 untreated AD patients. The net costs of caring for all AD patients who completed all study parameters increased with decreasing cognitive ability. Unpaid assistance was the most costly component of the total cost of care. Mini-Mental State Examination scores correlated strongly with functional status, and instrumental activities of daily living scores were a robust indicator of the magnitude of behavioral, cognitive, and dependence problems. This study suggested a significant link between costs of caring for an AD patient at home and disease severity.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Broca, Paris, France. anne-sophie.rigaud@brc.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rigaud
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fagnani
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bayle
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Latour
authors.forename: Latchezar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Traykov
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forette
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006304:Health Status; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors