Costs of services for schizophrenic patients in Norway

Estimates of the direct costs of mental health services for patients with schizophrenia are made from a registration of all patients seen during a period of 4 weeks in all treatment units serving 6 catchment areas. The estimates were based on unit costs. The total direct costs of mental health services for schizophrenic patients in Norway were estimated to be NOK 1158 million (US$ 164 million). In total, 74.3% of the costs are for long-term in-patient care, 19.7% are for acute and intermediate length in-patient care, and 6.0% are for out-patient and day care. The average costs of schizophrenic patients with a GAF score of 1-20 are almost twice those of patients with a GAF score of 21-40, and more than three times those of patients with a GAF score of 41-60.