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Background: Caregivers providing informal care for people with dementia (PwD) often report unmet needs, burden, and health impairments. Optimal support for family dementia caregivers will likely benefit from better understanding and assessment of the prevalence and types of caregivers' unmet needs and associated socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.Objective: The present study investigates 1) the number and types of caregivers' unmet needs, 2) socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of both PwD and caregivers, and 3) caregivers' burden and health-related outcomes that are related to caregivers' unmet needs.Methods: The present analyses are based on cross-sectional data of n = 226 dyads of caregivers and their community-dwelling PwD participating in a comprehensive standardized, computer-based caregivers' needs assessment within a general practitioner (GP)-based, cluster-randomized intervention trial.Results: A total of n = 505 unmet needs were identified for n = 171 caregivers from the intervention group at baseline. Only 24.3% caregivers reported no unmet need (n = 55), whereas 75.7% caregivers had at least one unmet need (n = 171). Caregivers had on average 2.19 unmet needs (mean = 2.19, SD = 2.15). Specifically, 53.1% of caregivers had one up to three unmet needs (n = 120), 18.6% (n = 42) had three up to six unmet needs, and 4.0% (n = 9) had more than six unmet needs.Discussion: Our results underline the importance of a comprehensive needs assessment for family dementia caregivers to develop and implement concepts that can provide family dementia caregivers with optimal support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, there are 1.7 million people living with dementia (PwD) in Germany. This number is expected to double within the next decades. Estimates of the total societal economic burden of dementia are currently missing., Objectives: The aim was to estimate the current and future total cost and excess cost of dementia from a public payer and societal perspective., Methods: Studies demonstrating the healthcare resource utilization of PwD in Germany were identified. Utilization data were aggregated using the sample size of different studies as a weight. Annual per capita costs of PwD and excess cost of dementia were calculated using standardized unit costs. Current and future costs were calculated based on published prevalence and population forecasts., Results: PwD living at home had lower costs from a payer perspective compared to those who are institutionalized, but higher total societal cost due to the higher informal care time. The total cost for PwD from a payer perspective was 34 billion € in 2016. These costs could reach 90 billion € by 2060. The excess cost of dementia was 18 billion € in 2016 and is estimated to become 49 billion € by 2060 from a payer perspective, representing 54% of the total cost of PwD and up to 15% of the total costs associated with the elderly population. The total societal cost was 73 billion € in 2016 and is estimated to become 194 billion € by 2060. The excess cost of dementia was 54 billion € in 2016 and is estimated to become 145 billion € by 2060, representing 74% of the total societal cost of PwD and 36% of the total societal cost of the elderly., Conclusion: Dementia diseases represent a tremendous social and economic burden. Without a cure, supporting caregivers and implementing interventions that delay the functional and cognitive decline will be crucial to relieving the increasing costs.