Health economic measures in schizophrenia research

Abstract

BackgroundIt is essential in economic evaluations of schizophrenia interventions that all relevant costs are identified and measured appropriately Also of importance is the way in which cost data are combined with information on outcomesAimsTo examine the use of health economicsin evaluations of interventions for schizophreniaMethodsAreview of the key methods used to estimate costs and to link costs and outcomes was conductedResultsCosts fall on a number of different agencies and can be short term or long term. Cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-utility analysis are the most appropriate methods for combing cost and outcome dataConclusionsSchizophrenia poses a number of challenges for economic evaluation