“This timely report provides strong evidence of the rapidly escalating burden of Alzheimer's disease on the U.S. Latino population,” said William Vega, co-author of the report and executive director of the USC Roybal Institute on Aging. “It is not only the growth of the prevalence that is concerning. It is also the very high metabolic syndrome and diabetes rates that are fueling the increase in Alzheimer's to levels well beyond expected rates in the U.S. population.”
Key Findings
- With the continuing growth and overall aging of the Latino population, this report projects a striking increase in the number of Latinos with AD through 2060. The number of Latinos with AD is expected to increase more than nine fold from 379,000 in 2012 to 1.1 million by 2030 and to 3.5 million by 2060—a growth of 832 percent.
- Total direct and indirect costs for Latinos with AD will reach approximately $105.5 billion by 2060 (in 2012 dollars)—costing the U.S. economy a total of $2.35 trillion (in 2012 dollars) through 2060.
- Direct costs for Latinos with AD, including expenditures for medical and long-term care, are estimated to be $7 billion in 2012 and projected to more than double in 2030 to $19.6 billion (in 2012 dollars). In 2060, these costs will increase more than nine times to $65.7 billion (in 2012 dollars).
- Indirect costs for Latinos with AD, including unpaid informal care and earnings lost by persons with AD, are projected to increase tenfold from $3.9 billion in 2012 to $39.8 billion (in 2012 dollars) in 2060.
- Latino families are less likely to use formal care services such as nursing home care and hospice care, and instead turn to more affordable long-term care services (such as adult day care) and unpaid informal care compared to non-Latino whites.
- Although Latinos with AD are more likely to choose the most affordable care alternatives and rely heavily on unpaid informal care, total costs for Latinos with AD will grow faster than non-Latino whites.
On World Alzheimer's Day, the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging and Latinos Against Alzheimer's, a network of US Against Alzheimer's, released a report: Latinos & Alzheimer's Disease: New Numbers Behind the Crisis.
Click to view the full report and learn more (pdf) »
Source: Published originally on UC Davis Health, Latinos & Alzheimer's Disease: New Numbers Behind the Crisis, 2016.