Economic evaluation in the context of schizophrenia and related psychotic conditions: A systematic review and cost-consequence analysis

Psychosis is a symptom that presents in mental health disorders including schizophrenia, major depression, and bipolar disorder. How best to capture the benefits of interventions in the broader context of mental health is an area of debate in health economics, particularly the suitability of generic quality of life measures. Specific to psychosis, these issues are explored through a systematic review and cost-consequence analysis. Findings from the review show the array of outcomes that have been used to quantify benefit in economic evaluations, with most studies using condition-specific (rather than generic) measures. Given this deviation from ‘standard’ approaches, cost-consequence analysis provides an appropriate way to assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions in this clinical context – the illustrative example in this thesis comprises an assessment of a supported employment model. Understanding the reasons for the infrequent use of widely-accepted economic evaluation techniques is an important area for further health economics and policy research.