Long- term cost of spouses’ informal support for dependent midlife stroke survivors

Sammanfattning

Objectives: Stroke is a major global disease that requires extensive care and support from society and relatives. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the long- term informal support and to estimate the annual cost of informal support provided by spouses to their stroke surviving partner. Method: Data were based on the 7- year follow- up of the Sahlgrenska Academy Study on Ischemic Stroke. One- third of the spouses stated that they provided support to their stroke surviving partner. The magnitude of the support was assessed with a study- specific time- diary and was estimated for independent and dependent stroke survivors based on the scores of the modified Rankin Scale. To deal with skewed data, a two- part econometric model was used to estimate the annual cost of informal support. Result: Cohabitant dyads of 221 stroke survivors aged <70 at stroke onset were in- cluded in the study. Spouses of independent stroke survivors ( n = 188) provided on average 0.15 hr/day of practical support and 0.48 hr/day of being available. Corresponding figures for spouses of dependent stroke survivors ( n = 33) were 5.00 regarding practical support and 9.51 regarding being available. The mean annual cost of informal support provided for independent stroke survivors was estimated at €991 and €25,127 for dependent stroke survivor. Conclusion: The opportunity cost of informal support provided to dependent midlife stroke survivors is of a major magnitude many years after stroke onset and should be considered in economic evaluations of health care.