Cost to ambulatory care for schizophrenia in Family Medicine

The groups related to ambulatory care (GRAA, according to its initials in Spanish) are a classification of clinical diagnoses performed on patients receiving medical care in primary care; it is a comprehensive treatment for one year.

To determine the costs of ambulatory care and sociodemographic characteristics of patients with schizophrenia attended in Family Medicine (FM).

Cross-sectional study which included adult patients with complete electronic clinical record, who had confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia and received medical attention in a FM unit from January to December 2017. The variables were: age, sex, sociodemographic data, drug addiction and employment status. To determine the annual cost of schizophrenia based on GRAA, the economic medical card was applied, which includes family medicine consultations, inter-consultations, medications, medical supplies, and the time of use of installed capacity for one year.

Out of all patients, 56.2% were men (n = 172). Age was 48.42 ± 14.4 years. Of women, 21.2% were married and 21.2% homemakers, 4.2% smokers, and 1.3% alcohol drinkers. Of men, 30.4% were unmarried, 15% unemployed, 13.1% smokers, and 6.9% alcohol drinkers. The total annual cost of schizophrenia for FGRAA-MH for men was $ 7 613 236.00.

The use of FGRAA-MH revealed the total annual cost for the care of schizophrenia in the medical unit, which provides important information for better understanding the magnitude of this health problem in that area, and will improve planning and economic medical management.