Introduction:

Heart failure (HF) is a structural or functional pathology of the heart that impairs filling capacity of this organ, generating symptoms that affect quality of life and functionality in subjects who suffer this disease. This impact on economic life in caregivers of patients with HF has been poorly studied, therefore, there is a lack of information about this topic.

Objective:

To estimate the economic impact of HF from the perspective of informal caregivers. Type of study: quantitative study, partial economic evaluation type. Population and sample: 54 subjects diagnosed with HF and one informal caregiver per subject were included.

Results:

The average age of the subjects with HF is 70.61 years, most of them men (64.8%), with a diagnosis time of 84 months and a Barthel score of 81.94 points, which represents a mild dependency. Regarding caregivers, 48.1% reported an active employment relationship, the median income was $1,260,000 COP/month. The number of hours of care is 4.93 hours/day. The economic impact was reflected in monthly income, causing a loss of $644,017.50 due to care activities and a 30% reduction in working time. 29% of income was allocated to care work, therefore, they generated expenses that reduced 71% of income. According to the above, for every 10 hours of work, 7 hours are spent on care.

Conclusions:

HF negatively impacts the economy of the informal caregiver of subjects with this pathology.

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