Health care costs and changes in subjective health-related quality of life among Finnish adolescents referred to secondary psychiatric out-patient services: a one-year follow-up study.

Abstract

There has been growing interest in economic evidence regarding treatment of mental disorders. The purpose of this one-year follow-up study was to evaluate the secondary health care costs and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in three common adolescent psychiatric disorder groups. Further, HRQoL of patients was compared to that of population controls. Twelve- to fourteen-year-old adolescents with behavioral and emotional disorders (n = 37), mood disorders (n = 35), and anxiety disorders (n = 34), completed the 16D HRQoL questionnaire when they entered the adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics (baseline) and at follow-up. The direct secondary health care costs were calculated using a clinical patient administration system. Population controls included 373 same-aged pupils from randomly selected 13 comprehensive schools. The direct secondary health care costs did not differ significantly between the three patient groups. However, in adolescents with mood disorders, this investment generated a significant and clinically important improvement in HRQoL, which was not observed in the other two patient groups. The costs of health care alone do not necessarily reflect its quality.