School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
J Behav Health Serv Res. 2021 Oct;48(4):634-641. doi: 10.1007/s11414-021-09751-7. Epub 2021 Apr 6.
This exploratory study described the distribution of mental health service costs in youth with mental disorder and determined if costs differed for youth with comorbid internalizing and externalizing disorder compared to those with comorbid internalizing disorders. Data come from youth (8-17 years; n=75) receiving mental health services at a children's hospital in Canada. Billing amounts specified in the Health Insurance Act of Ontario were used to estimate costs. Overall, past-year service use costs were $7436.63. Hospitalizations represented the largest cost. Youth with comorbid internalizing and externalizing disorders had higher total (β=0.81 [0.17, 1.45]), hospital (β=0.93 [0.03, 1.84]), and professional (β=0.87 [0.04, 1.69]) costs. These preliminary findings suggest that comorbidity type is associated with the costs of past-year mental health services used by youth. Research is needed to understand the reasons for elevated costs and whether the increased services used by youth with comorbid internalizing and externalizing disorders are effective.
本探索性研究描述了精神障碍青少年精神卫生服务成本的分布，并确定了与共患内化和外化障碍的青少年相比，共患内化障碍的青少年的成本是否存在差异。数据来自加拿大一家儿童医院接受精神卫生服务的青少年（8-17 岁；n=75）。安大略省健康保险法案中规定的计费金额用于估计成本。总体而言，过去一年的服务使用成本为 7436.63 加元。住院治疗是最大的开支。共患内化和外化障碍的青少年的总费用（β=0.81 [0.17, 1.45]）、住院费用（β=0.93 [0.03, 1.84]）和专业服务费用（β=0.87 [0.04, 1.69]）更高。这些初步结果表明，共病类型与青少年过去一年使用的精神卫生服务成本有关。需要开展研究，以了解费用增加的原因，以及共患内化和外化障碍的青少年使用更多服务是否有效。
