News Release

The hidden cost of schizophrenia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMC (BioMed Central)

People being treated for schizophrenia are more likely than the general population to have encounters with the criminal justice system in the US. A study published in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry has shown that schizophrenia patients' involvement with the criminal justice system is primarily driven by their being victims of crime and that the average annual per-patient cost of involvement with the criminal justice system was $1429.

Haya Ascher-Svanum led a team of researchers from Eli Lilly and Company, USA, who used data from a study of around 600 people with schizophrenia to estimate the prevalence and cost of involvement with the criminal justice system. They found that 46% had had at least one encounter, and these patients were more likely to be younger, with poorer mental health, and less likely to adhere to their medication regime. Being a crime victim was the most prevalent type of encounter, comprising 67% of these patients.

The team also estimated, for the first time, the direct economic impact of legal involvement. According to Ascher-Svanum, "These encounters may comprise approximately 6% to 11% of the annual per-patient direct total costs. When assessing the costs of schizophrenia, future studies should account for potential criminal justice system involvement whenever possible".

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Notes to Editors

1. Involvement in the US criminal justice system and cost implications for persons treated for schizophrenia
Haya Ascher-Svanum, Allen W. Nyhuis, Douglas E. Faries, Daniel E. Ball and Bruce J. Kinon
BMC Psychiatry (in press)

During embargo, article available here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/1734398223284142_article.pdf?random=106556

After the embargo, article available at journal website: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpsychiatry/

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Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication

2. BMC Psychiatry is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology. BMC Psychiatry (ISSN 1471-244X) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, Current Contents, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.


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