Valid grounds for the switch of original antipsychotics with generics.

Patients' non-compliance in treatments, such as irregular taking of medication, represents an enormous problem with psychiatric patients in general. This difficulty occurs especially in patients suffering from chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. There are not any significant differences in the efficacy of reducing the positive symptoms in schizophrenia between the conventional and the atypical antipsychotics. However, the effects which are manifested in negative schizophrenia symptoms or in the patients' cognitive functioning, favour the atypical antipsychotics. When it comes to adding the subjective well-being of the patients and their improvement of the quality of life, then, the advantages of atypical antipsychotics are unquestionable. New trends in medicine are increasingly impinge on the pharmacoeconomy, which aims at reducing treatment cost. This trend is getting progressively stronger in the world and as such, it certainly will not bypass Croatia. Pharmacists and General Practice doctors (GP) are permitted, by the law, to replace the original medicament prescribed by a specialist doctor, with a cheaper one from the same generic group of medicaments, with a purpose of cutting down the treatment costs. Is there always a valid justification for such practice, and should it become a rule for all the patients out there? This is a case report of a patient who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. He has been on a treatment with atypical antipsychotics and has kept in a good and stable remission for the past seven years. His therapy consisted of olanzapine in a dose of 15 mg in the evening, throughout the whole period of his 7-year remission. A month ago, his GP doctor self- initially prescribed a generic olanzapine. The impact of this decision on to the mental state of the patient as well as his trust in the treatment itself is described in this report.

Evidence for Distinguishable Treatment Costs among Paranoid Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia spectrum disorders result in enormous individual suffering and financial burden on patients and on society. In Germany, there are about 1,000,000 individuals suffering from schizophrenia (SZ) or schizoaffective disorder (SAD), a combination of psychotic and affective symptoms. Given the heterogeneous nature of these syndromes, one may assume that there is a difference in treatment costs among patients with paranoid SZ and SAD. However, the current the national system of cost accounting in psychiatry and psychosomatics in Germany assesses all schizophrenia spectrum disorders within one category. METHODS: The study comprised a retrospective audit of data from 118 patients diagnosed with paranoid SZ (F20.0) and 71 patients with SAD (F25). We used the mean total costs as well as partial cost, i.e., mean costs for medication products, mean personal costs and mean infrastructure costs from each patient for the statistical analysis. We tested for differences in the four variables between SZ and SAD patients using ANCOVA and confirmed the results with bootstrapping. RESULTS: SAD patients had a longer duration of stay than patients with SZ (p = .02). Mean total costs were significantly higher for SAD patients (p = .023). Further, we found a significant difference in mean personnel costs (p = .02) between patients with SZ and SAD. However, we found no significant differences in mean pharmaceutical costs (p = .12) but a marginal difference of mean infrastructure costs (p = .05) between SZ and SAD. We found neither a common decrease of costs over time nor a differential decrease in SZ and SAD. CONCLUSION: We found evidence for a difference of case related costs of inpatient treatments for paranoid SZ and SAD. The differences in mean total costs seem to be primarily related to the mean personnel costs in patients with paranoid SZ and SAD rather than mean pharmaceutical costs, possibly due to higher personnel effort and infrastructure.

Clinical usefulness and economic implications of continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in a Spanish National Health System public hospital: A case series.

INTRODUCTION: Continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy has been shown to be effective for prevention of relapse in affective and psychotic disorders. However, there is a limited nubber of studies that investigate clinical management, associated costs, and perceived quality variables. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A series of 8 cases included during the first 18 months of the Continuation/Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy Program of the Psychiatry Department at 12 de Octubre University Hospital is presented. Clinical variables (Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale, length of hospitalization, number of Emergency Department visits, number of urgent admissions) before and after inclusion in the continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy program were compared for each patient, as well as associated costs and perceived quality. RESULTS: After inclusion in the program, 50.0% of patients reported feeling « much better ¼ and 37.5% « moderately better ¼ in the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale. In addition, after inclusion in the continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy program, patients were hospitalized for a total of 349 days, visited the Emergency Department on 3 occasions, and had 2 urgent admissions, compared to 690 days of hospitalization (P = .012), 26 Emergency Department visits (P = .011) and 22 urgent admissions (P = .010) during the same period before inclusion in the program. Associated direct costs per day of admission were reduced to 50.6% of the previous costs, and costs associated with Emergency Department visits were reduced to 11.5% of the previous costs. As regards perceived quality, 87.5% of patients assessed the care and treatment received as being « very satisfactory ¼, and 12.5% as « satisfactory ¼. CONCLUSIONS: This continuation/maintenance electroconvulsive therapy program has shown to be clinically useful and to have a favourable economic impact, as well as high perceived quality.

Delusional disorders--are they simply paranoid schizophrenia?

OBJECTIVES: This article tries to give an answer to the question of whether International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) persistent delusional disorder (PDD) or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) delusional disorder (DD) is simply paranoid schizophrenia (PS). Because ICD-10 PDD and DSM-IV DD are identical, we use DD as a synonym. METHODS: A prospective and longitudinal study compared all inpatients with DD treated at the Halle-Wittenberg university hospital during a 14-year period with a previously investigated selected cohort of patients with PS. Sociodemographic data, symptomatology, course, and outcome parameters were examined using standardized instruments. The duration of the follow-up period in patients with DD was 10.8 years and for the PS patients 12.9 years. RESULTS: Significant differences between DD and PS were found: DD patients are, in comparison to patients with PS, significantly older at onset. Less of their first-degree relatives have mental disorders. They less frequently come from a broken home situation. First-rank symptoms, relevant negative symptoms, and primary hallucinations did not occur in patients with DD. Patients with DD were less frequently hospitalized, and the duration of their hospitalization was shorter. Their outcome is much better regarding employment, early retirement due to the disorder, and psychopharmacological medication. They more often had stable heterosexual partnerships and were autarkic. They had lower scores in the Disability Assessment Scale and in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. The diagnosis of DD is very stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study support the assumption that DDs are a separate entity and only exceptionally can be a prodrome of schizophrenia.

The REACT study: cost-effectiveness analysis of assertive community treatment in north London.

OBJECTIVE: Assertive community treatment (ACT) is a key component of mental health care, but recent information on its cost-effectiveness is limited. This article provides a cost-effectiveness analysis of assertive community treatment and usual care from community mental health teams (CMHTs) in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Participants who had difficulties engaging with community services were randomly assigned to ACT (N=127) or continued usual care from CMHTs (N= 124). Costs were measured at baseline and 18 months later and compared between the two groups. In the analysis, cost data were linked to information on satisfaction, which had been shown to be significantly higher with ACT. RESULTS: Total follow-up costs over 18 months were higher for the ACT group by pounds sterling 4,031 ($6,369), but this was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval of - pounds sterling 2,592 to pounds sterling 10,690 [-$4,095 to $16,890]). A one-unit improvement in satisfaction was associated with extra costs in the ACT group of pounds sterling 473 ($747). CONCLUSIONS: The costs of ACT were not significantly different from usual care. ACT did, however, result in greater levels of client satisfaction and engagement with services and as such may be the preferred community treatment option for patients with long-term serious mental health problems.

Cost and intensity of care in case managers' referrals to psychiatric day programs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether case managers referred clients with different needs to programs with different goals and levels of intensity, and thus with different costs. METHOD: A total of 150 case managers were asked to select one of three day programs--day treatment, clubhouse, or supported employment--for four hypothetical clients described in case vignettes. They also were asked to choose any or all of three types of concurrent services for these clients, including a medication clinic, outpatient counseling, and a social club. They listed the five most important criteria for making their decisions. RESULTS: The 70 case managers who responded to the survey consistently referred the most functionally impaired clients to day treatment programs and recommended fewer support services for those clients. The least impaired clients were referred to clubhouse or supported employment programs, and many support services were recommended. The most important decision-making criteria cited were clients' motivation, problem-solving ability, and history. CONCLUSIONS: Case managers differentially select day programs based on clients' functional ability. Clients referred to vocationally oriented programs are also referred to concurrent services that increase the cost of the total service package.