[The study of the costs of schizophrenia]

The present paper considers the problems of measurement of the costs of psychiatric services. Classification of costs' studies includes cost of illness, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility studies. Costs should be comprehensively measured. Randomised clinical trial is recommended. Information of costs should be integrated with information on patient outcomes. The paper discusses the research which tries to estimate the costs and benefits of community care, using naturalistic or random patient sample methods.