Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MINO Yoshio Osaka Prefecture University, College of Social Welfare, Professor, 社会福祉学部, 教授 (80181965)
INOUE Shimpei Kochi Medical School, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Professor, 医学部附属病院, 教授 (20125826)
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Budget Amount *help |
¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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Research Abstract |
The subjects were patients with mood disorders according to the international diagnostic criteria and admitted to the hospital, and their main family members. As the evaluation scale of behavior of family members toward the patients, expressed emotion (EE) was examined, and the family members were divided into the high expressed emotion (high EE) group and low expressed emotion (low EE) group. This study was performed over 9 months after the evaluation of EE. The incidence of recurrence was high (85.7%) in the high EE group, while in the low EE group, it was low (13.8%), indicating that the risk ratio of recurrence was high (6.2). The medical cost required over 9 months after discharge from the hospital was examined in the 2 groups, assuming that the admission cost was 13,000 yen, and treatment in the outpatient department required 5,200 yen. The difference in the total medical cost was 199,418 yen for 9 months between the 2 groups, and it was about 2.3-fold higher in the high EE group than in the low EE group. Since many of the patients with recurrence of mood disorders were re-admitted to the hospital, the medical cost was higher in the high EE group. It was considered necessary to provide psychological education to family members from the viewpoint of medical economy. The difference in the medical cost for 9 months (about 200,000 yen) between the high and low EE groups may be higher than the cost required for psychological education, suggesting that psychological education for families of patients with mood disorders can reduce medical costs.
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