Comparison of Mental Health Treatment Adequacy and Costs in Public Hospitals in Boston and Madrid

Hospital spending and length of hospital stay for mental disorders in Hunan, China

Objectives

To describe hospital spending and length of stay for mental disorders in Hunan, China.

Methods

We extracted hospital care data for Hunan province from the Chinese National Health Statistics Network Reporting System. Patients with mental disorders (ICD-10 codes: F00 to F99) as the principal diagnosis and hospitalized between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 were included. We retrieved information on age, sex, number of comorbidities, diagnosis, level of hospital, hospital costs, date of admission and discharge, length of stay (LOS), and method of payment of eligible participants. Spending at the provincial level, and spending and LOS at the individual level were described. Quantile regression and linear regression were conducted to investigate factors for hospital cost and LOS for major mental disorders.

Results

The 2019 annual spending on mental disorders in Hunan province was 160 million US dollars, and 71.7% was paid by insurance. The annual spending on schizophrenia was 84 million dollars, contributing to a primary burden of mental disorders. The median spending for mental disorders was $1,085 per patient, and the median hospital stay was 22 days. The study identified several significant factors associated with hospital cost and LOS, including age, sex, comorbidity, and level of the hospital. In particular, a higher level of the hospital was associated with a higher hospital spending but a shorter LOS. Women with schizophrenia had a comparable hospital spending but a significantly shorter LOS than men with schizophrenia.

Conclusion

Hospitalization spending for patients with mental disorders is substantial. Schizophrenia is the major burden of hospitalization for mental disorders. While patients treated at a higher level of hospital had higher spending, they stayed shorter in these hospitals.

Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games

Globally, depression and anxiety are the two most prevalent mental health disorders. They occur both acutely and chronically, with various symptoms commonly expressed subclinically. The treatment gap and stigma associated with such mental health disorders are common issues encountered worldwide. Given the economic and health care service burden of mental illnesses, there is a heightened demand for accessible and cost-effective methods that prevent occurrence of mental health illnesses and facilitate coping with mental health illnesses. This demand has been exacerbated post the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increase in incidence of mental health disorders. To address these demands, a growing body of research is exploring alternative solutions to traditional mental health treatment methods. Commercial video games have been shown to impart cognitive benefits to those playing regularly (ie, attention control, cognitive flexibility, and information processing). In this paper, we specifically focus on the mental health benefits associated with playing commercial video games to address symptoms of depression and anxiety. In light of the current research, we conclude that commercial video games show great promise as inexpensive, readily accessible, internationally available, effective, and stigma-free resources for the mitigation of some mental health issues in the absence of, or in addition to, traditional therapeutic treatments.