The economic and social burden of Alzheimer disease on families in the Lombardy region of Italy.

The purpose of this study was to measure resource consumption associated with the provision of nonmedical care to noninstitutionalized patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) residing in the Lombardy Region of Italy. A questionnaire was mailed to 1,501 caregivers who sought advice from the "Federation Alzheimer Italia" in 1995. On the basis of 616 returned questionnaires, the authors estimated that a patient with AD requires 18 hours per week of paid nonmedical services and 45 hours per week of personal care provided by a primary caregiver. Primary caregivers are more likely to be women, spouses, and retired. Almost 7 of 10 patients are supported by at least a second caregiver. Annual expenditure for nonmedical cost per patient with AD is estimated to be L 13,388,000 (U.S. $8,218). Using the replacement cost approach, the authors estimated the economic cost of informal (unpaid) care to be L 72,877,000 (U.S. $44,736). Despite some limitations in the design of the survey, this first Italian study on primary data highlights the impressive economic burden of AD on families. It also shows that AD puts many Italian families at great financial risk. Adequate and timely funding arrangements should be urgently found to make resources available to future generations of patients.