This work may not be copied, distributed, displayed, published, reproduced, transmitted, modified, posted, sold, licensed, or used for commercial purposes. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to the publisher’s Terms & Conditions.

Article

The Economic Impact of Schizophrenia

Dorothy P. Rice

Published: January 1, 1999

Article Abstract

Although schizophrenia afflicts 1.1% of the U.S. population, it imposes a disproportionately large economic burden due to expenditures for hospitalization, treatment and rehabilitation, and lost productivity. Cost-of-illness studies, using a variety of methodologies to calculate direct and indirect costs, have estimated that in 1990 the total economic burden of schizophrenia was $32.5 billion. Of this total, $17.3 billion was attributable to direct medical costs. By comparison, in the same year the total and direct medical costs for anxiety disorders, which are more than 10 times more prevalent than schizophrenia, were $46.6 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively. For affective disorders, almost 10 times more prevalent than schizophrenia, the total and direct costs were $30.4 billion and $19.2 billion, respectively. Effective treatments used early in the course of schizophrenia can help reduce the costs associated with this illness.


Some JCP and PCC articles are available in PDF format only. Please click the PDF link at the top of this page to access the full text.

Volume: 60

Quick Links: Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders