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Costs of schizotypal disorder: A matched‐controlled nationwide register‐based study of patients and spouses
Author(s) -
Hastrup Lene Halling,
Jennum Poul,
Ibsen Rikke,
Kjellberg Jakob,
Simonsen Erik
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/acps.13292
Subject(s) - schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , medicine , psychiatry , indirect costs , health care , productivity , total cost , population , schizotypal personality disorder , demography , psychosis , environmental health , accounting , sociology , economics , business , economic growth , macroeconomics , microeconomics
Objective Information on societal cost of patients with schizotypal disorder is limited. The aim was to investigate the societal costs of schizotypal disorder before and after initial diagnosis including both patients and their spouses. Methods A register‐based cohort study of 762 patients with incident schizotypal disorder (ICD‐10; F21) including their spouses and 3048 matched controls, during 2002 to 2016. Total healthcare costs, home care costs, and costs of lost productivity of patients and spouses were included in the analysis. Results Total costs amounted €47,215 per year for patients with schizotypal disorder, which was fifteen times higher than the matched controls. Of these, 41% were healthcare and home care costs and 59% were costs of lost productivity. Healthcare costs and costs of lost productivity were increased during five years before initial diagnosis of schizotypal disorder. Total costs of spouses to patients were €21,384 compared with € 2519 among spouses of controls. 75% of the total costs of spouses to patients were related to lost productivity. The total costs were higher than the costs of borderline personality disorder, but on the same level as the costs of schizophrenia identified in earlier comparable studies. Conclusions The total societal costs of patients with schizotypal disorder drawn from national registers differed substantially from the controls representing the general population. As evidence‐based recommendations for diagnoses and treatment of patients with schizotypal disorder do not exist, future research should focus on developing effective treatment for this group of patients to reduce cost of illness.