The Economic Value of Informal Caregiving for Persons With Dementia: Results From 38 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 2015 and 2016 BRFSS
Open accessAbstract
Objectives. To estimate the economic value from a societal perspective of informal caregiving of persons with dementia in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Methods. Using a cost replacement method and data from the 2015 and 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System caregiver module, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2016 Occupation Profiles, and the US Department of Labor, we estimated the number and economic direct cost of caregiving hours. Results. An estimated 3.2 million dementia caregivers provided more than 4.1 billion hours of care, with an average of 1278 hours per caregiver. The median hourly value of dementia caregiving was $10.28. Overall, we valued these caregiving hours at $41.5 billion, with an average of $13 069 per caregiver. Conclusions. Caregivers of persons with dementia provide care that has important economic implications. Without these efforts, many people would either not receive needed care or have to pay for that support. Surveillance data can be used to estimate the contributions of informal caregivers and the economic value of the care they provide.
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More than 60% of caregivers are married, living with a partner, or in a long-term relationship.
“Over 60% of caregivers are married, living with a partner or in a long-term relationship.A11,407”
From 2023 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures (2023) · cites this paper as [407]
The Results report that 61.4% of informal dementia caregivers were married, and the Methods define that category as married or part of an unmarried couple. The citing sentence says “caregivers” without limiting the figure to informal dementia caregivers in the surveyed jurisdictions, so it is broader than the source's finding. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredApproximately two-thirds of dementia caregivers are women.
“Approximately two‐thirds of dementia caregivers are women.”
From 2024 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures (2024) · cites this paper as [440]
About 40% of dementia caregivers have a college degree or more education.
“Approximately 40% of dementia caregivers have a college degree or more of education.A11,407,408”
From 2023 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures (2023) · cites this paper as [407]
The Methods section lists “college graduate” as an education category, but gives no percentage for that category. The Results section describes the caregivers and refers to Table 1 without stating an education percentage in our copy. Searches for the 40% figure and college-degree wording did not establish the claimed proportion. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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- Authors
- Rabarison, K. M., Bouldin, E. D., Bish, C. L., McGuire, L. C., Taylor, C. A., & Greenlund, K. J.
- Affiliations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2018-10
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1370-1377
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC6137771
- OpenAlex
- W2888225994
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 3.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Appalachian State University
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (CC999999)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Keywords
- dementia, informal care, caregiver hours, social costs, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, state-level estimates
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Dementia, District of Columbia, Female, Home Nursing, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Puerto Rico, United States, Caregivers
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