Abstract
Globally, about one in four people develop a psychiatric disorder during their lifetime. Specifically, the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia is about 0.48%, and schizophrenia can have detrimental effects on a patient's life. Therefore, estimating the economic burden of schizophrenia is important. We investigated the cost-of-illness trend of schizophrenia in South Korea from 2006 to 2016. The cost-of-illness trend was estimated from a societal perspective using a prevalence-based approach for direct costs and a human capital approach for indirect costs. We utilized information from the following sources: 1) National Health Insurance Service, 2) Korean Statistical Information Service, Statistics Korea, 3) the National Survey of Persons with Disabilities, 4) Budget and Fund Operation Plan, Ministry of Justice, 5) Budget and Fund Operation Plan, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and 6) annual reports from the National Mental Health Welfare Commission. Direct healthcare costs, direct non-healthcare costs, and indirect costs by sex and age group were calculated along with sensitivity analyses of the estimates. The cost-of-illness of schizophrenia in Korea steadily increased from 2006 to 2016, with most costs being indirect costs. Individuals in their 40s and 50s accounted for most of the direct and indirect costs. Among indirect costs, the costs due to unemployment were most prevalent. Our estimation implies that schizophrenia is associated with a vast cost-of-illness in Korea. Policymakers, researchers, and physicians need to put effort into shortening the duration of untreated psychosis, guide patients to receive community-care-based services rather than hospital-based services and empower lay people to learn about schizophrenia.
Highlights
Many individuals have mental disorders globally, and one in four people will develop a mental disorder during their lifetime [1]
109,306 individuals were classified as having mental disability among those treated for schizophrenia during that period
About 1,000 people each year died from schizophrenia or committed suicide
Summary
Many individuals have mental disorders globally, and one in four people will develop a mental disorder during their lifetime [1]. The data is available from NHIS (National Health Insurance System) upon request to the ‘Information analysis department in Big data operation room’. The url for the website is: https://nhiss.nhis.or.kr/bd/ab/bdaba000eng.do; jsessionid=cK18Qv01aQU6z3lIVw344vo having any psychiatric disorder in South Korea (Korea from hereon) is 25.4% and 11.9%, respectively [2]. The global burden of mental disorders comprises about 30% of years lived with disability and 15% of disability-adjusted life years [3]. These numbers indicate that improving mental health is a major aspect of increasing one’s wellbeing
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