title: Economics of the Iceberg: Informal Care Provided to French Elderly with Dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 (SESSTIM), Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille University, UMR_S912, IRD, Marseille, France; ORS PACA, South-Eastern Health Observatory, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE), Marseille, France. Electronic address: alain.paraponaris@inserm.fr.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paraponaris
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 (SESSTIM), Marseille, France; ORS PACA, South-Eastern Health Observatory, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Bérengère
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D003704:Dementia / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005791:Patient Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards
keywords: ADL; IADL; cost; count models; dementia; informal care; need for care; opportunity cost method; propensity score matching; proxy good method