Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32621548›Full record

ArticleHealth services research2020

Comprehensive support of family caregivers: Are there health system cost offsets?

Courtney Harold Van Houtven, Valerie A Smith, Karen M Stechuchak, Theodore S Z Berkowitz, Katherine E M Miller, Megan Shepherd-Banigan, Margaret Kabat, Jennifer Henius

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Empowering Older Veterans Through Self-Directed Care: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Technology Enabled Respite Homecare Model Pilot.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Courtney Harold Van HoutvenCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.ORCID 0000-0002-0783-1611
Valerie A SmithCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.ORCID 0000-0001-5170-9819
Karen M StechuchakCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.
Theodore S Z BerkowitzCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.
Katherine E M MillerCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.ORCID 0000-0002-6726-2369
Megan Shepherd-BaniganCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NC.
Margaret KabatCaregiver Support Program, VA Central Office, Washington, DC.
Jennifer HeniusCaregiver Support Program, VA Central Office, Washington, DC.
Duke University · USDurham VA Health Care System · USUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo examine the effect of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Caregivers (PCAFC) on total VA health care costs for Veterans. DATA SOURCES: VA claims. STUDY

designUsing a pre-post cohort design with nonequivalent control group, we estimated the effect of PCAFC on total VA costs up through 6 years. The treatment group included Veterans (n = 32 394) whose caregivers enrolled in PCAFC. The control group included an inverse probability of treatment weighted sample of Veterans whose caregivers were denied PCAFC enrollment (n = 38 402). DATA EXTRACTION: May 2009-September 2017. PRINCIPAL

findingsTotal VA costs pre-PCAFC application date were no different between groups. Veterans in PCAFC were estimated to have $13 227 in VA costs in the first 6 months post-PCAFC application, compared to $10 806 for controls. Estimated VA costs for both groups decreased in the first 3 years with a narrowing, but persistent and significant, difference, through 5.5 years. No significant difference in VA health care costs existed at 6 years, approximately $10 000 each, though confidence intervals reflect significant uncertainty in cost differences at 6 years.

conclusionsIncreased costs arose from increased outpatient costs of participants. Sample composition changes may explain lack of significance in cost differences at 6 years because these costs comprise of early appliers to PCAFC. Examining 10-year costs could elucidate whether there are long-term cost offsets from increased engagement in outpatient care.

Indexed as

AdultCaregiversFemaleHealth Care CostsHealth StatusHome Care ServicesHospital CostsHumansInsurance Claim ReviewMaleMental HealthMiddle AgedSocioeconomic FactorsUnited StatesUnited States Department of Veterans Affairsaccess/demand/utilization of serviceshealth care costsobservational data/quasi-experimentsprogram evaluationVA Health Care System

Identifiers

PMID32621548
PMCPMC7518809
OpenAlexW3038524119

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.