Hospitalization and total medical costs for privately insured persons withschizophrenia

This study used data from the 1991-1993 MarketScan files, a large database of private sector inpatient, outpatient, and prescription drug medical clai ms, to identify a sample of 665 patients with schizophrenia. Descriptive an d multivariate analyses were conducted on the subsamples with hospitalizati ons (N=185) and without hospitalizations (N=480) in the 1-year period follo wing the initial diagnosis for schizophrenia observed in the 1991-1993 time period. After controlling for patient demographic characteristics, medical co-morbidities, and other factors, the cost of hospitalization itself was found to be $15,805.