Abstract
Objective To examine the effects of caregiver and patient characteristics on caregivers' medical care use and cost. Methods One hundred forty-seven caregiver/patient dyads were followed annually for 6 years in three academic Alzheimer's disease centers in the United States. Logistic, negative binomial, and generalized linear mixed models were used to examine overall effects of caregiver/patient characteristics on caregivers' hospitalizations, doctor visits, outpatient tests and procedures, and prescription and over-the-counter medications. Results Patients' comorbid conditions and dependence were associated with increased health-care use and costs of caregivers. Increases in caregiver depressive symptoms are associated with increases in multiple domains of caregivers' health-care use and costs. Discussion Findings suggest expanding our focus on dementia patients to include family caregivers to obtain a fuller picture of effects of caregiving. Primary care providers should integrate caregivers' needs in health-care planning and delivery. Clinical interventions that treat patients and caregivers as a whole will likely achieve the greatest beneficial effects.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 444-454 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Alzheimer's and Dementia |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- Caregiving
- Cost
- Dementia
- Longitudinal study
- Medical care
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Health Policy
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience