%0 Journal Article
%T Health-related quality of life advantage of long-acting injectable antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia: a time trade-off study
%A Richard H Osborne
%A Andrew Dalton
%A Judy Hertel
%A Rudolf Schrover
%A Dell Smith
%J Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1477-7525-10-35
%X Vignettes were developed using the published literature and an iterative consultation process with expert clinicians and patient representative groups. Four vignettes were developed. The first was a vignette of relapsed/untreated schizophrenia. The other three vignettes presented a standardised picture of well-managed schizophrenia with variations in the intervals between injections: once every 2-weeks, 4-weeks and 3-months. A standardised time trade off (TTO) approach was used to obtain utility values for the vignettes. As a societal perspective was sought, a representative sample of individuals from across the community (Sydney, Australia) was recruited. Ninety-eight people completed the TTO interview. The vignettes were presented in random order to prevent possible ordering effects.A clear pattern of increasing utility was observed with increasing time between injections. Untreated schizophrenia was rated as very poor health-related quality of life with a mean (median) utility of 0.27 (0.20). The treated health states were rated at much higher utilities and were statistically significantly different (p < 0.001) from each other: (1) 2-weekly: mean (median) utility = 0.61 (0.65); (2) 4-weekly: mean (median) utility = 0.65 (0.70); (3) 3-monthly: mean (median) utility = 0.70 (0.75).This study has provided robust data indicating that approximately a 0.05 utility difference exists between treatment options, with the highest utility assigned to 3-monthly injections.Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized communication, poor planning, reduced motivation, and blunted affect [1]. The incidence of schizophrenia is around 15.2 per 100,000 persons per year and the lifetime prevalence is about one percent of any population, irrespective of race, gender or social class [2,3]. While this is relatively low, schizophrenia contributes significantly to the global burden of disease due to its typical onset in
%K Quality of life
%K Time-trade-off
%K Schizophrenia
%K Treatment interval
%K Antipsychotic
%K Long-acting injection
%U http://www.hqlo.com/content/10/1/35