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The greatest risk factor for dementia is advancing age. Therefore, with the aging of the population, the prevalence of dementia is increasing. The U.S. government has deemed it critical to determine the cost of dementia care and generate strategies for managing this growing problem without bankrupting the nation. To this end, researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 10,000 people aged 51 or older in 1992, or their caregivers, on cognitive and physical functioning. The investigators calculated annual costs from self-reported out-of-pocket expenditures and nursing home care, Medicare claims data, and informal caregiving costs.
Using more than 30,000 person-years' worth of data captured by these surveys, researchers …