Objective: The authors aimed to analyze and compare treatments of schizophrenia in Poznan and Lviv to present the potential differences between Poland and Ukraine in pharmacotherapy and economic availability of medicines, to emphasize the role of academic centers in the effective treatment of schizophrenia, and to raise the awareness of residents about economics and the cost of inpatient care.
Methods: The analysis was based on 307 hospital records of patients treated in 2010 and 2011 and data from the hospital accounting department. Per the inclusion criteria, 108 adult patients (50 in Poznan and 58 in Lviv) were enrolled in the study. Monetary values were converted into euros (EUR) at the rate published by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) on October 9, 2012.
Results: The total cost of schizophrenia treatment in Poznan was EUR 160,489.26, x = EUR 3,209.78 per patient, and in Lviv it was EUR 30,943.38, x = EUR 533.5 per patient. Treatment schedules differed between Poznan and Lviv, and pharmacotherapy was limited economically, especially in Lviv.
Conclusion: Although the results differ between Poznan and Lviv, the study shows that schizophrenia treatment is expensive in both centers. Differences in the health care systems make use of innovative neuroleptics unavailable especially in Lviv, which may contribute to non-compliance or higher level of relapses. Distinctive efforts to improve therapies should be made and efforts to equalize access to innovative pharmacotherapy should be supported to improve the therapy's efficacy and the economic values of schizophrenia treatment.