@article{ref1,
title="Brief admission by self-referral as an add-on to usual care for individuals with self-harm at risk of suicide: cost-effectiveness and 4-year health-economic consequences after a Swedish randomized controlled trial",
journal="Nordic journal of psychiatry",
year="2024",
author="Lindkvist, Rose-Marie and Steen Carlsson, Katarina and Daukantaité, Daiva and Flyckt, Lena and Westling, Sofie",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Brief Admission by self-referral (BA) is a crisis-management intervention standardized for individuals with self-harm at risk of suicide. We analyzed its health-economic consequences. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: BA plus treatment as usual (TAU) was compared with TAU alone in a 12-month randomized controlled trial with 117 participants regarding costs for hospital admissions, coercive measures, emergency care and health outcomes (quality-adjusted life years; QALYs). Participants were followed from 12 months before baseline to up to five years after. <br><br>RESULTS: Over one year BA was associated with a mean annual cost reduction of 4800 or incremental cost of 4600 euros, depending on bed occupancy assumption. Cost-savings were greatest for individuals with >180 admission days in the year before baseline. In terms of health outcomes BA was associated with a QALY gain of 0.078. Uncertainty analyses indicated a significant QALY gain and ambiguity in costs, resulting in BA either dominating TAU or costing 59 000 euros per gained QALY. <br><br>CONCLUSION: BA is likely to produce QALY gains for individuals living with self-harm and suicidality. Cost-effectiveness depends on targeting high-need individuals and comparable bed utilization between BA and other psychiatric admissions. Future research should elaborate the explanatory factors for individual variations in the usage and benefit of BA.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0803-9488",
doi="10.1080/08039488.2024.2366854",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2024.2366854"
}