Análisis económico del costo de los medicamentos usados en patologías psiquiátricas: el tercio de los ingresos de un paciente se consumen en fármacos

Abstract

Context: patients with chronic diseases spend between 5% and 18% of the individual or family budget for health in European countries. These expenditures could be higher in Ecuador.
Objective: to carry out an analysis of the economic cost of medicines used for psychiatric pathologies
Methodology: descriptive study in 439 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and addictions, to determine the cost of treatment according to the pathology diagnosed, and the number of drugs required in their treatment.
Results: 95% of subjects come from the sierra region, 2,2% come from the coast and 1,8% from the east. Female patients predominate (53%), with an average age of 36,7 ± 15,8 years. 68% are unemployed and only 20% have inadequate employment. Regarding the diagnosis, 28,6% corresponds to anxiety, 27,2% to depression,21% consume substances, 16,3% are schizophrenic and 6.7% have bipolar disorder. 80% of individuals have adherence to the treatment of one month. Most pathologies merit a treatment with two drugs, which implies an average monthly cost of 30,67 ± 24,94 dollars. Schizophrenia is the pathology that has a higher cost of treatment with a monthly value of 51,28 ± 85,04 dollars Conclusion: 80% of the patients studied require pharmacological treatment of more than 30 days; the majority of patients surveyed, 28,6%, suffer from generalized anxiety syndrome, 40% of all patients need at least two medications simultaneously, bipolar disorder is the pathology that demands the highest monthly cost, with more than US $ 112 with three medications for simultaneous use, which represents 29% of their income if you earn a unified minimum remuneration in Ecuador, to 2017.