A study conducted by Oxford University researchers reveals that the cost of dementia across 15 western European countries came up to £165 billion in 2007.

The research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, states that the cost of health and social care alone for each patient in Britain is £13,000 per year. The figure doesn’t include the factor of informal care by families and friends, such as help with household tasks, shopping, transport and supervision which Oxford University claim accounts for £21bn each year.

The researchers also found that the UK is investing more heavily in dementia research than elsewhere, accounting for 40 percent of all dementia research funding in the 15 countries studied but 25 percent of the total cost burden.

The economic burden of dementia was estimated using patient-level studies and aggregate data on morbidity, mortality, and health and social care use. Healthcare and social care costs were estimated from expenditure on nursing and residential home care; and primary, outpatient, emergency and inpatient care, as well as drug treatment. Costs of unpaid care and lost earnings due to morbidity and premature death were also included in the study.

Reference
Ramon Luengo-Fernandez, R. Leal, J. and Gray, A. M. (2011) Cost of Dementia in the Pre-Enlargement Countries of the European Union. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 27 (2011) 1–11. IOS Press. Download the article.