Objective: Cost of the mental disorders for the community is high because of their frequency, recurrence or chronical course. Aim of the present study was to evaluate sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and hospitalization cost for one year of the patients in a psychiatric clinic.
Materials and Methods: Medical files and hospitalization bills were reviewed retrospectively of the patients treated in during one year. Annual average in-patient cost was calculated by multiplying average cost of hospitalization and average annual number of hospitalization.
Results: Mean age of 177 patients was 44.5±12.9 years; 50.3% of the patients were female. Average number of hospitalizations in a psychiatry clinic was 1.69±1.33, average number of hospitalization in one year was 1.18±0.40, and average duration of hospitalization was 24.12±1 16.33 days. 48.0% of the patients had unipolar depression, 17.5% had bipolar disorder, 17.5% had schizophrenic-psychotic disorder, and 17% had other psychiatric conditions. Average cost of hospitalization per patient was 2227.29±1489.91 Turkish Liras (TL) (815.12±544.94 US$). Daily hospitalization cost was found to be 92.34±91.23 TL (37.79±33.38 US$). The highest hospitalization cost was for schizophrenic and psychotic disorders (106±29.2 TL; 38.79±10.68 US$)
Conclusion: We found the highest hospitalization rates in unipolar depression group and highest hospitalization costs in schizophrenia and psychotic disorders group. There are few studies from our country investigating which diagnostic groups are more frequently hospitalized and the direct diagnostic costs. Multicenter studies on this subject would be helpful in planning number and quality of the psychiatry wards and policies of mental health.
Key words: Psychiatric Disorder; In-Patient; Cost.
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