Again, dementia severity was associated with informal costs such that with each unit increase in CDR-SB there was an 18% increase in informal costs. Discussion In this examination of the informal costs of dementia Pefloxacin mesylate care in a population-based sample, we found no significant associations with the use of FDAAMAD overall. of care multiplied by the median wage in Utah in the visit year) and adjusted for inflation using the Medical Consumer Price Index. Generalized Estimating Equations with a gamma log-link function, were used to examine the longitudinal association between use of FDAAMAD and informal costs. Results The daily informal cost for each Pefloxacin mesylate participant at baseline ranged from $0 to $318.12, with the sample median of $9.40. Within Pefloxacin mesylate the entire sample, use of FDAAMAD was not significantly associated with informal costs (exp = .73, p = .060). In analyses restricted to participants with mild dementia at baseline (N = 222), use of FDAAMAD was associated with 32% lower costs (exp = .68, p = .038). Conclusions Use of FDAAMAD was associated with lower informal care costs in those with mild dementia only. Introduction Estimates suggest that family caregivers provide about 83% of home care for people with dementia (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). In the US in 2015, an estimated 18.1 billon hours of informal care was provided to persons with dementia, which was valued at $221.3 billion (2015 US dollars) (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). There is a limited body of literature on the informal costs of dementia care in the US. The Asset and Health Dynamics (AHEAD) Study, which studied a representative US sample of 7,443 community-dwelling individuals age 70 years or older, provided informal Pefloxacin mesylate cost estimates based on cross-sectional data. The informal cost of dementia care was estimated via the replacement cost method, employing the 1998 national average wage for a home heath aid (mean wage of $8.20 per hour) (Langa studies examined the informal costs of dementia care by symptom severity. The Predictors Study enrolled 204 persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from three university-based research clinics and followed them longitudinally from 1990 to 2004 (Zhu 2013). Long-term observational studies found that persistent use of FDAAMAD reduced cognitive, functional, and global decline (Rountree (formal and informal) for those treated with ChEIs of $73 for a person with mild AD and $2290 (in 1997 US dollars) for a person with moderate AD over two years’ time (Fillit and Hill, 2005). Another study of 687 Medicare enrollees with mild-to-moderate dementia found that those using donepezil incurred $2500 lower mean costs of medical services per year compared to those who were not treated with FDAAMAD (Lu (2015), the Medical Consumer Price Index (MCPI) multiplier, which is based on the annual average of medical care services from the Urban Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), was used to account for changes in market price over the years of data collection of the study (2002-2012) (Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2016a). For example, to convert 2002 Utah median hourly wage into 2015 dollars, the 2002 MCPI was calculated by dividing the 2015 CPI-U annual average Pefloxacin mesylate of 476.171 by the 2002 CPI-U annual average of 292.9 (476.171/292.9 = 1.626). The resulting value (1.626) was multiplied by the 2002 median Utah hourly wage of $12.23 totaling $19.88 (Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2016a; b). Covariates Use of psychotropic medications and medications with anticholinergic properties were included as covariates in models due to their potential effects on neuropsychiatric symptoms or cognition, either of which in turn may affect informal costs (Carriere 2012). Other covariates tested in statistical models included place of residence and gender. Statistical Analysis Using generalized estimating equations (GEEs), we examined the association between FDAAMAD use and the informal costs of dementia care over time. All variables, except for gender, were time-varying (current medication use, CDR-SB, etc.). Variables with significant Wald values were retained (alpha = .05). As cost distributions are highly positively skewed, a LECT gamma distribution with, a logarithmic link function was applied to a transformation of the dependent variable (Cost + $.01, to address values of 0). This approach was previously applied to the DPS data when estimating costs (Rattinger used FDAAMAD at any time over the course of the study..