ABSTRACT
Objective: Untreated school refusal increases the risk of a premature discontinuation of the educational career. The aim of this study is the economic evaluation of a manual-based treatment for school refusal in comparison to the standard treatment. Method: Within the cost-minimisation analysis, resource use is measured retrospectively for six months using the CSSRI questionnaire. Unit costs for most health care services are derived from published standard prices. Costs are calculated from the societal perspective based on prices compiled in 2011. The cost comparison during the one-year intervention period applies a difference in differences Approach. Results: The most common diagnoses among the 112 participants are phobic and emotional disorders. The average cost per patient during the intervention period amounts to 7197 (95 %-CI: 4746 10 079 ) for the manual group and 9294 (95 %-CI: 6313 12 878 ) for the control group. The difference in adjusted costs of 1453 in favour of the manual group is not statistically relevant. Conclusions: The manual-based treatment is equivalent if not slightly advantageous compared to the standard treatment considering the clinical outcomes and cost of illness.
Subject(s)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/economics , Combined Modality Therapy/economics , Manuals as Topic , Mental Disorders/economics , Mental Disorders/therapy , Phobic Disorders/economics , Phobic Disorders/therapy , Adolescent , Affective Symptoms/economics , Affective Symptoms/psychology , Affective Symptoms/therapy , Child , Comorbidity , Cost of Illness , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Phobic Disorders/psychology , Retrospective Studies , Student Dropouts/education , Student Dropouts/psychology , Young AdultABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Allergic respiratory diseases represent a global health problem. The two major treatment strategies are symptom treatment and specific immunotherapy (SIT). SIT is considered the only causal treatment option available with the ability to alter the course of the disease. This study aims to describe the course of disease and medication of respiratory allergy across treatment strategies and disease groups. METHODS: The analysis is based on routine data from a German statutory health insurance. The patient cohort is observed from 2007-2012. For each year based on assured outpatient diagnoses patients are assigned to a disease group: rhinitis, asthma or both diseases. Additionally, prescribed medication is considered. Treatment comparisons are based on matched pairs. RESULTS: The study population comprises 165,446 patients with respiratory allergy. In 2007 the most frequent disease group is rhinitis (70%), followed by asthma (16%) and both diseases (14%). During the observation period a second allergic respiratory diagnosis occurs only in about 12% of rhinitis patients and 28% of asthma patients. In about 50% of patients with both diseases one of the diagnoses is omitted. These patients are more likely to no longer report their asthma diagnosis when receiving immunotherapy compared to symptom treatment. Furthermore immunotherapy reduces the frequency of asthma medication use. CONCLUSIONS: Results of detailed analysis of diagnoses reflect the alternating nature of allergic diseases. Although limited by accuracy of documentation and the lack of clinical information, the comparison of treatment strategies shows some advantages of immunotherapy regarding course of disease and asthma medication use.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: 5-10% of schoolchildren in Germany are absent from school without an excuse more than five times per year. We investigate the effectiveness of manual-based, multimodal cognitive behavioral therapy focusing on school-avoidant behavior and on the underlying mental disorders. METHODS: 112 school avoiders were recruited from an outpatient child and adolescent psychiatric clinic and adaptively randomized into two treatment groups. The first group received manual-based multimodal treatment (MT), the second group treatment as usual (TAU) in the child and adolescent mental health care system. The primary outcome of the study was the percentage of classes attended in the five days prior to first measurement (before the intervention), as well as 6 and 12 months afterward. In each of these periods, school attendance was characterized as regular, partial, or none. Secondary outcomes were the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, and quality of family life. RESULTS: In both treatment arms, the percentage of regular school attenders rose to about 60% in 6 months, regardless of the intervention (MT 60.6%, TAU 58.3%; odds ratio [OR] for changes over baseline 6.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.98-12.12, p< 0.001; OR for MT versus TAU 1.05, 95% CI 0.58-1.90, p = 0.875). The improvement persisted 12 months after inclusion. CONCLUSION: In accordance with earlier studies, we found that manual-based multimodal treatment did not improve school avoidance to any greater extent than treatment as usual. Future studies should focus on the conditions for successful reintegration in school and on the differential indicators for outpatient versus inpatient treatment.
