Socioeconomic burden of schizophrenia: a targeted literature review of types of costs and associated drivers across 10 countries

Schizophrenia has the highest median societal cost per patient of all mental disorders. This review summarizes the different costs/cost drivers (cost components) associated with schizophrenia in 10 countries, including all cost types and stakeholder perspectives, and highlights aspects of disease associated with greatest costs. Targeted literature review based on a search of published research from 2006 to 2021 in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and China. Sixty-four published articles (primary studies and literature reviews) were included. Comprehensive data were available on costs in schizophrenia overall, with very limited data for individual countries except the US. Most data is related to direct and not indirect costs, with extremely scarce data for several key cost components (adverse events, suicide, long-term care). Total schizophrenia-related per person per year (PPPY) costs were $2,004–94,229, with considerable variability among countries. Indirect costs were the main cost driver (50–90% of all costs), ranging from $1,852 to $62,431 PPPY. However, indirect costs are not collected systematically or incorporated in health technology assessments. Total schizophrenia-related PPPY direct costs were $4,394–31,798, with inpatient cost as the main cost driver (∼20–99% of direct costs). Intangible costs were not reported. Despite limited evidence, total schizophrenia-related costs were higher in patients with than without negative symptoms, largely due to increased costs of medication and medical visits. As this was not a systematic review, prioritization of studies may have resulted in exclusion of potentially relevant data. All costs were converted to USD but not corrected for inflation or subjected to a gross domestic product deflator. Direct costs are most commonly reported in schizophrenia. The substantial underreporting of indirect and intangible costs undervalues the true economic burden of schizophrenia from a payer, patient, and societal perspective. The true costs of diseases such as schizophrenia extend far beyond the obvious direct costs of hospital visits, outpatient appointments and medications to include indirect costs such as loss of productivity among patients and caregivers due to unemployment, early retirement and premature death. This review of literature published between 2006 and 2021 reveals that the indirect costs of schizophrenia actually account for between 50% and 90% of all costs, but are often not taken into account in healthcare planning. In addition, intangible costs, including the pain, suffering, stress, and anxiety experienced by patients and caregivers due to schizophrenia have not been reported in the literature. Costs were also higher for patients with negative symptoms of schizophrenia (where patients appear withdrawn and lacking in emotion, with few social relationships) compared with those with positive symptoms (including delusions or hallucinations). This is largely due to the greater costs for medications and medical visits among patients with negative symptoms. In summary, this review demonstrates that the true cost of schizophrenia, including direct, indirect, and intangible costs, is likely to be substantially higher than the values for the cost of disease currently reported.

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