Provisión de cuidados informales y enfermedad de Alzheimer: valoración económica y estudio de la variabilidad del tiempo.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease represents a significant burden in terms of time for the carer of the patient not institutionalized. The aim of this article is to estimate the cost of the time of the informal care depending on the type of disability and study the underlying factors of its variability. The empirical analysis has been made with data obtained through a retrospective questionnaire administered by the caregiver, using a probabilistic estimation model. The results show that most of the time is spent on personal care activities and physical mobility, increasing the average cost when considering more severe stages of the disease. Differences in time are explained mainly by the stage of the disease, the state of health of the caregiver and the availability of professional care.Alzheimer's disease; informal care, cost, time