Coste del cuidado informal del ictus en una población general no institucionalizada Cost of informal care for stroke victims in a non-institutionalized general population

• Main Authors: Adolfo Hervás (Author), Juan Cabasés (Author), Tarsicio Forcén (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0213-9111
• Keywords: Cuidado informal; Cuidadores; Costes; Costes sociales; Enfermedad cerebrovascular; Ictus; Dependencia; Aproximación de abajo arriba; Informal care; Caregivers; Costs; Social costs; Cerebrovascular disease; Stroke; Dependency; Bottom-up approach; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Gaceta Sanitaria, Vol 21, Iss 6, Pp 444-451 (2007)

Antecedentes: El impacto social del ictus es importante por tratarse de una enfermedad invalidante, que causa dependencia y necesidad de cuidados informales. La importancia de la dependencia cada vez es mayor en la sociedad, pero no hay registros de los costes del cuidado informal, y se desconoce cómo valorarla. Objetivos: Calcular el coste del cuidado informal del ictus en una población general y analizarlo en función del grado de dependencia. Realizar un análisis de sensibilidad con la variable costes unitarios a partir de fuentes diversas. Material y métodos: Se estudian todos los casos diagnosticados de ictus a 31 de diciembre de 2004 (n = 95) pertenecientes a una zona básica de salud de Navarra, de los que 40 (44,4%) precisan cuidados informales. Se valora la dependencia para las actividades de la vida diaria mediante los índices de Barthel (actividades básicas [ABVD]) y Lawton-Brody (actividades instrumentales [AIVD]). La valoración del tiempo del cuidado informal se realiza con una aproximación de abajo a arriba (bottom-up), mediante un cuestionario de recogida de actividades diarias. Resultados: El coste del cuidado informal de los pacientes con ictus es de 21.551,28 €/año, con un rango, según el análisis de sensibilidad, entre 6.490,80 y 31.436,72 €/año. Hay diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el coste del cuidado informal según el grado de dependencia (ABVD: 24.865,2 €/año; AIVD: 10.442,9 €/año). Conclusiones: El coste del cuidado informal en la atención al ictus es elevado y crece con el nivel de dependencia.<br>Background: Stroke has a strong social impact since it causes disability, leading to dependency and the need for informal care. Although awareness of the importance of dependency is increasing, registries of the cost of informal care are lacking and consequently the real value of this activity to society is still unknown. Objectives: To calculate the cost of informal care of stroke victims in a general population, evaluate these costs according to patients' degree of dependency, and perform a one-way sensitivity analysis with variable unit costs from diverse sources. Material and methods: Of all the patients with stroke diagnosed at 12-31-2004 (n = 95) among the population within a district health service of Navarre (Spain), 40 (44.4%) required informal care. Dependency for activities of daily life was evaluated by means of the Barthel (basic activities of daily life [BADL]) and Lawton-Brody indices (instrumental activities of daily life [IADL]). Time of informal care was evaluated following a bottom-up approach and diary survey method. Results: The cost of the informal care of patients with stroke was 21,551.28 euros per year. According to the sensitivity analysis the range varied from 6,490.80 to 31,436.72 euros per year. Statistically significant differences in the cost of informal care were found according to patients' degree of dependency (BADL: 24,865.2 euros per year; IADL: 10,442.9 euros per year). Conclusions: The cost of informal care in ictus is high and is directly related to the degree of dependency.