Length of stay and antipsychotic treatment costs of patients with acute psychosis admitted to hospital in Spain. Description and associated factors. The Psychosp study

The aim of this study was to describe the length of stay, cost of drug treatment, diagnostic tests and other therapeutic measures in acute psychotic patients admitted to acute in-patient psychiatric units and to analyse the factors associated with these. A retrospective review was made of medical re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2004-07, Vol.39 (7), p.507-513
Main Authors: PEIRO, Salvador, GOMEZ, Gregorio, NAVARRO, Montserrat, GUADARRAMA, Iris, REJAS, Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Adult
Aged
Antipsychotic Agents - economics
Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use
Antipsychotics
Biological and medical sciences
Costs
Diagnostic tests
Female
Hospital Costs
Hospitalization - economics
Hospitals
Humans
Length of stay
Length of Stay - economics
Male
Medical records
Medical sciences
Mental health
Middle Aged
Organization of mental health. Health systems
Patients
Psychiatric Department, Hospital - economics
Psychiatric Department, Hospital - utilization
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychosis
Psychotic Disorders - drug therapy
Psychotic Disorders - economics
Psychotic Disorders - rehabilitation
Psychotropic drugs
Retrospective Studies
Schizophrenia
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
Spain
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Summary:The aim of this study was to describe the length of stay, cost of drug treatment, diagnostic tests and other therapeutic measures in acute psychotic patients admitted to acute in-patient psychiatric units and to analyse the factors associated with these. A retrospective review was made of medical records of 200 patients admitted for acute psychosis in eight Spanish hospitals. Information was collected concerning the length of stay, cost of drug treatment and diagnostic tests; bivariate and multivariate analysis was made of factors associated with length of stay and cost of antipsychotic drug treatment. The average admission cost ranged between 2,830.29 and 3,624.95 euros, with a wide variability among hospitals. Of this cost, 94.3% corresponded to fixed costs, 3.4% to diagnostic tests and 2.4% to drug treatment (84.2% of this latter cost corresponded to antipsychotic drugs). Age younger than 25 years and a diagnosis of schizophrenia were associated with longer hospital stays; longer length of stay, the presence of aggressiveness/agitation, a diagnosis of schizophrenia, age younger than 25 years and the use of atypical antipsychotics were associated with higher costs in antipsychotic drug treatment. The hospital admission cost of an acute psychotic episode is mostly dependent on the structural costs derived from in-patient treatment. The differences in costs seem to be related to the different length of stay schemes used by the various hospitals rather than to the clinical characteristics of patients or the drugs used.
ISSN:0933-7954
1433-9285
DOI:10.1007/s00127-004-0776-y