Nowbath Nikhil, Abdelatif Nada, Lippi Gian
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Biostatistics Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
S Afr J Psychiatr. 2024 Apr 15;30:2211. doi: 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v30i0.2211. eCollection 2024.
Cannabis use is more prevalent among people with schizophrenia than in the general population. This usage detrimentally impacts disease prognosis, contributing to escalated admissions, heightened severity of psychotic symptoms, and reduced medication response. The recent decriminalisation of cannabis in South Africa may lead to an upsurge in usage, consequently intensifying the strain on mental healthcare services.
This study aimed to compare the medication costs of patients with schizophrenia depending on cannabis use.
Weskoppies Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa, 2018-2019.
Data pertaining to medication expenses during the 2018-2019 period were acquired from the hospital pharmacy. Data were collected from 114 patient records to form two equal cohorts: one exposed to cannabis and the other non-exposed, as indicated by urine drug screens or admission of cannabis use. Medications prescribed from admission to time of being ready for discharge were recorded and corresponding costs were calculated.
Patients who were exposed to cannabis had higher medication costs (R 516.47) than patients who were non-exposed (R 328.69) ( = 0.0519), over the whole admission period.
Cannabis exposure escalates the financial burden of treating schizophrenia at Weskoppies Hospital. This might be attributed to failure of cost-effective, first-line medications prompting the prescription of costlier, second-line alternatives or higher prescribed dosages.
This study contributes to findings that it is more expensive to treat patients with schizophrenia who have relapsed, if they are using cannabis. This finding has future cost implications when budgeting for pharmacotherapeutic treatment.
与普通人群相比，精神分裂症患者中使用大麻的情况更为普遍。这种使用情况对疾病预后产生不利影响，导致住院人数增加、精神症状严重程度加剧以及药物反应降低。南非最近将大麻合法化可能会导致使用量激增，从而加剧精神卫生保健服务的压力。
本研究旨在比较使用大麻与否的精神分裂症患者的药物治疗费用。
南非比勒陀利亚的韦斯科皮斯医院，2018 - 2019年。
从医院药房获取2018 - 2019年期间与药物费用相关的数据。从114份患者记录中收集数据，形成两个相等的队列：一个队列是通过尿液药物筛查或承认使用大麻表明接触过大麻的患者，另一个队列是未接触过大麻的患者。记录从入院到准备出院期间开具的药物，并计算相应费用。
在整个住院期间，接触过大麻的患者的药物费用（516.47兰特）高于未接触过大麻的患者（328.69兰特）（P = 0.0519）。
在韦斯科皮斯医院，接触大麻会增加治疗精神分裂症的经济负担。这可能归因于具有成本效益的一线药物无效，促使开具更昂贵的二线替代药物或更高的处方剂量。
本研究有助于得出这样的结论，即使用大麻的复发型精神分裂症患者的治疗成本更高。这一发现对药物治疗预算具有未来成本影响。
