Evaluating the economic loss of caregiving for palliative care patients.

Objective: Our aim is to provide a unified measure of the economic burden faced by families during the palliative phase of care and to compare this measure to Statistics Canada's low-income cut-off.

Methods: Samples of palliative care patients living at home and their main informal caregivers were recruited in five Canadian urban regions. Interviews were performed every two weeks until the patient's passing, up to a maximum of six months. Participants were asked to provide details about their expenses and their absences from work that related specifically to the patient's condition. Income loss was evaluated for 192 family units.

Results: About 9 percent of families incurred economic losses in excess of 10 percent of their pre-study gross annual income; low-income status increased from 27 (before) to 40 (after).

Conclusion: This is the first study to provide a unified measure of economic losses of caregiving that can be related to a publicly designated low-income threshold.