Closer caregiver and care-recipient relationships predict lower informal costs of dementia care: The Cache County Dementia Progression Study.
Identifying factors associated with lower dementia care costs is essential. We examined whether two caregiver factors were associated with lower costs of informal care.



A total of 271 care dyads of the Cache County Dementia Study were included. Estimates of informal costs were based on caregiver reports of time spent in care-related activities and inflation-adjusted 2012 Utah median hourly wages. Caregiver coping and emotional closeness with the care-recipient were assessed using the Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised and Relationship Closeness Scale, respectively.



Higher closeness was associated with 24% lower costs (expβ = 0.763 [95% confidence interval: 0.583-0.999]) in linear mixed models controlling for demographics and baseline dementia severity and duration. Problem-focused coping was not associated with informal costs (P = .354).



Caregiver closeness, a potentially modifiable factor, predicted lower dementia informal care costs over time. Future studies examining the care environment in closer dyads may identify specific care-related behaviors or strategies that are associated with lower costs.
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, USA; Pharmacy Practice Division, School of Pharmacy, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park, NJ, USA.
Gail B
GB
Rattinger
Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Elizabeth B
EB
Fauth
Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Stephanie
S
Behrens
Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Chelsea
C
Sanders
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA; Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Sarah
S
Schwartz
Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA; Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Maria C
MC
Norton
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA; Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Chris
C
Corcoran
Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Department, University of Maryland Baltimore School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA.
C Daniel
CD
Mullins
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Constantine G
CG
Lyketsos
Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA; Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA. Electronic address: joann.tschanz@usu.edu.
JoAnn T
JT
Tschanz
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003704:Dementia / Q000191:economics / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
Caregiver; Informal costs of dementia; Relationship closeness