title: Cost of informal care for community-dwelling mild-moderate dementia patients in a developed Southeast Asian country.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cost of informal care constitutes an important component of total dementia care cost. It also reflects resource utilization by patients and caregivers. We aim to quantify the informal cost of care for mild to moderate dementia patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 165 patient-caregiver dyads with mild to moderate dementia. Informal care burden was assessed using the Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD)-Lite instrument. A generalized linear model was fitted for association between cost of informal care and cognitive impairment, taking into account patient demographics, disease factors, and use of paid domestic help. Marginal estimates were obtained from the model for the purpose of illustration and discussion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total hours of informal care by primary caregiver doubled in moderate dementia patients, with 57.9% having paid domestic help to assist in care. Functional factors and use of paid domestic help were significantly associated with informal care costs. Costs were consistently higher for patients without paid domestic help for mild- and moderate dementia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates the informal care costs of caring for mild-moderate dementia patients in Singapore, with the unique cost savings provided by live-in paid domestic help, and potentially may aid policy-makers in allocation of resources and support to caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Cognition and Memory Disorders Service, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. Mei_Sian_Chong@ttsh.com.sg
authors.forename: Mei Sian
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Woan Shin
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Wee Shiong
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Noorhazlina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Yue Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: Kia Chong
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chua
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003704:Dementia / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009732:Nursing Care; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000191:economics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012846:Singapore; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors