Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia.
Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2019 Aug;22(4):467-473. doi: 10.1007/s00737-018-0912-4. Epub 2018 Sep 25.
The perinatal period is a critical time for mental health and is also associated with high health care expenditure. Our previous work has identified a history of poor mental health as the strongest predictor of poor perinatal mental health. This study aims to examine the impact of a history of poor mental health on health care costs during the perinatal period. Data from the 1973-1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) were linked with a number of administrative datasets including the NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection and Perinatal Data Collection, the Medicare Benefits Scheme and the Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme between 2002 and 2011. Even when taking birth type and private health insurance status into account, a history of poor mental health resulted in an average increase of over 11% per birth across the perinatal period. These findings indicate that an investment in prevention and early treatment of poor mental health prior to child bearing may result in a cost saving in the perinatal period and a reduction of the incidence of women experiencing poor perinatal mental health.
围产期是心理健康的关键时期，同时也与高额的医疗保健支出有关。我们之前的研究已经确定，心理健康状况不佳的历史是围产期心理健康不佳的最强预测因素。本研究旨在探讨心理健康状况不佳的历史对围产期医疗保健费用的影响。这项研究的数据来源于澳大利亚妇女健康纵向研究（ALSWH）的 1973-1978 年队列，与多个行政数据集相链接，包括新南威尔士州住院病人数据收集和围产期数据收集、医疗保险福利计划和药品福利计划，时间范围为 2002 年至 2011 年。即使考虑到分娩类型和私人医疗保险状况，心理健康状况不佳的历史导致每一次分娩的围产期费用平均增加了 11%以上。这些发现表明，在生育前投资于预防和早期治疗心理健康状况不佳可能会在围产期节省成本，并降低经历围产期心理健康不佳的妇女人数。
