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- Ekman, M., et al.
(författare)
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The Societal Cost of Schizophrenia in Sweden
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. - 1091-4358. ; 16:1, s. 13-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Schizophrenia is a disabling psychiatric disorder that has severe consequences for patients and their families. Moreover, the expensive treatment of schizophrenia imposes a burden on health care providers and the wider society. Existing cost estimates for Sweden, however, are based on relatively small patient populations and need to be confirmed in a large register-based study. Aims of the Study: To investigate the health care resource utilization and cost-of-illness in patients with schizophrenia in Sweden and to relate the costs to hospitalizations and global assessment of functioning (GAF). Methods: Hospital-based registry data were combined with national registry data from a large patient population to get reliable estimates of the costs of schizophrenia in Sweden. Schizophrenia was defined by ICD-10 codes F20; F21; F23.1,2,8,9; F25.1,8,9. Registry data on socio-demographics and disease-related healthcare resource use in outpatient and inpatient care were obtained from Northern Stockholm Psychiatry. Data on pharmaceuticals were obtained from the National Board of Health and Welfare, and data on sick leave and early retirement were obtained from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Costs for community mental health care were not available at the individual level, but were estimated based on previous studies and aggregate cost data from Stockholm. Resource use data from the registries were combined with unit costs from publicly available sources. The study was conducted from a societal perspective, with indirect costs valued according to the human capital method. Results: The average annual psychiatric cost per patient with schizophrenia in 2008 was 42 700 (95% CI: 41 500 44 000), based on a sample of 2 161 patients. To this should be added costs for community mental health care of 12 400 per patient, giving a total cost of 55 100 per patient. The two largest cost items in the total costs were indirect costs due to lost productivity (60%) and community mental health care (22% of the total cost). Patients who were hospitalized in 2008 had greater psychiatric costs than those who were not, (sic)71 700 vs. (sic)37 700 (p<0.0001). Psychiatric costs were significantly and negatively correlated with GAF (p<0.001). Discussion: The major strengths of the study are the relatively large sample, and the linkage of patient-level clinical data on inpatient and outpatient care with national registry data on prescription pharmaceuticals, and days on social insurance. A limitation was that costs for informal care and primary care were not included in the data, but previous studies suggest that these costs items are small compared to other costs for schizophrenia. Implications for Health Policies and Future Research: Costs were strongly related to hospitalization and GAF, suggesting that attempts to improve global functioning and avoid hospitalizations by means of effective treatment and rehabilitation might not only decrease suffering for patients and relatives, but also reduce the societal cost of schizophrenia. A detailed knowledge of the societal costs can also be helpful in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of new treatment strategies to improve the care for patients with schizophrenia.
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- Hjortsberg, Catharina, et al.
(författare)
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Costs for patients with psychotic illness : differences depending upon state of remission
- 2011
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Ingår i: The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. - Milano. - 1091-4358. ; 14:2, s. 87-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Psychotic illnesses have a substantial economic burden on patients, family members, friends, and society in general, still there have been limited attempts to estimate the costs associated with this condition. Moreover, nothing is known about the differences in costs between patients depending on disease severity, i.e. state of remission.AIM:Estimate the direct and indirect costs for a defined patient population with psychotic illness in Sweden, and demonstrate differences in direct costs depending on disease severity (state of remission).MATERIALS AND METHODS:The cost analyses are based on data from the Clinical Long-term Investigation of Psychosis in Sweden (CLIPS), which is an ongoing, single-centre, epidemiological study. Resource use and disease severity were captured for the patients during one year, 2007. Total costs per patients are estimated and cost differences between patients, depending on state of remission, are considered.RESULTS:199 patients with a mean age of 51 (63% men) were followed for 12 months. They had a mean of 6.4 inpatient-days, 1.4 physician visits, 18.6 nurse visits, 1.2 counsellor visits and 6.3 visits to other staff including tests and diagnostic procedures per patient- year. The mean total cost (direct and indirect) amounted to 62,500 per patient and year. Patients in steady state of remission had lower direct costs compared to other patients. Moreover, the size of the various cost items differed between patients' depending on state of remission. Patients in steady remission had almost no inpatient costs.DISCUSSION:For a comprehensive assessment of treatment of psychotic illnesses it is necessary to provide evidence of the costs related to disease severity. We find that patients suffering from psychotic illness have varying costs depending on their disease severity, and this study indicates that if patients can be kept in remission direct costs will decrease. We can also confirm that reallocation has taken place the last 15 years, between different cost items, from in-patient care at hospitals to out-patient care and assistance at home.LIMITATIONS:Information about informal care was collected from patients and not from informal carers themselves.IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE:Costs have been reallocated from in-patient care to costs for assistance at home, which is a reflection of the change in care of patients with mental problems that has taken place during the last 15 years. Patients in steady remission have lower costs compared to patients in steady non-remission or patients switching between the two states. A better surveillance of the disorder would lead to lower direct, as well as indirect, costs.
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