Quantifying the economic impact of caregiving for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in Spain.

AIM: To establish the potential economic burden in caregivers to patients with DMD and the potential causative factors.

METHOD: Caregivers to patients with DMD were recruited through the DMD patients Register and questioned about several economic aspects using "ad-hoc" questionnaires.

RESULTS

All families, apart from one (97.2% n = 36), incurred in monthly medical costs (44% of the families more than 50 euros/month). 97.2% of the households considered looking after a patient of DMD as financially burdensome, and 80.5% of households declared to have suffered work changes, especially the mothers (job timetable-related mainly). The presence of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) in patients was significantly associated with caregivers' high financial burden as these were six times more likely to have this perception OR = 6468 IC 95% (1056-39,601), p = 0.043. Also, when patients had learning difficulties, caregivers had up to six times more chances to incur in monthly expenditure for formal care OR = 6089 IC 95% (1112-33,342), p = 0.037.

INTERPRETATION: Caregivers have relevant financial burden that might be conditioned by the clinical condition of the patient.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Quantitative data about financial burden in DMD Spanish families providing informal care. Identification of the patient's main clinical issues associated with financial burden.