COST-EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION OF COMPLIANCE THERAPY FOR PEOPLE WITH PSYCHOSIS

Background Non-compliance rates with antipsychotic medication can be h igh. and the personal and societal costs are considerable. A new psych ological intervention. compliance therapy seeks to improve compliance and patient outcomes and reduce treatment costs. Method A randomised c ontrolled study examined the cost-effectiveness of compliance therapy compared to nonspecific counselling over 18 months for 74 people with psychosis admitted as inpatients at the Maudsley Hospital. Bivariate a nd multivariate analyses were conducted to test for differences and to explore inter-patient cost variations. Results Compliance therapy is more effective and is no more expensive. Consequently, compliance ther apy is more cost-effective than non-specific counselling at six, 12 an d 18 months. Conclusions There are compliance, outcome and cost-effect iveness arguments in favour of compliance therapy in preference to non -specific counselling.