Disease burden of schizophrenia patients visiting a Chinese regional mental health centre.

Aim & methods: A decision-analytic model was constructed to simulate a real-world cohort of Chinese patients visiting a Chinese regional mental health center for long-term health outcomes and direct medical costs. Results: When compared with age and gender-matched general population, the Chinese patients with schizophrenia were associated with reduced overall survival by 20.6 years (27.6 vs 48.2 years) and reduced quality-adjusted life years (QALY) by 18.4 QALY (18.4 vs 36.8 QALY), respectively, and increased lifetime direct medical costs by about three-times (US$84,324 vs 33,387 as of 31 December 2017) on average. Conclusion: The burden of schizophrenia was mainly driven by the mortality associated with relapsed schizophrenia and direct medical costs for schizophrenia in local mental health rehabilitation institutes.