Introduction: The aim of the present work is to review the Spanish literature on informal care cost in patients with a high prevalence of incapacitating neurological diseases. Stroke, dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis were distinguished in this group.
Methods: The different methods of evaluation of the informal care were also reviewed prior to analyzing the national literature on the topic. A systematical search was done in MEDLINE, ECONLIT, ABI-INFORM, CSIC data bases, IME (Index Medicus) and ISOC databases. Google was also used for searching <<grey literature>>. Initially, approximately 300 national and international articles were identified and reviewed. Only 11 works were selected to be included and analyzed in depth. Only articles that estimated informal costs from a patient sample of one of the mention diseases considered to fulfill the inclusion criteria.
Results: Seven articles referred to Alzheimer's disease, three to stroke, and one to multiple sclerosis.
Conclusions: In spite of the difficulty of comparing studies of different countries and of the methodological differences between the Spanish studies, there is an agreement that the non-health care costs (informal and indirect costs) had a greater weight than the health care ones on the total estimated cost of each one of the diseases studies.