OBJECTIVES: To compare inpatient hospitalization dischoarges and costs for mental disorders in the United States and European OECD Countries

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the 2018 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the US Nationwide Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project database. Hospital discharge records were used to identify patients with primary and secondary diagnoses of Mental, Behavioral, and Neurodevelopmental disorders (ICD-10 codes F01-F99). Adjusted survey methods were employed to determine hospitalization characteristics and outcomes, which were then compared with published data from countries including Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) using the OECD Healthcare Utilization database.

RESULTS: A total of 2,988,690 patients with mental disorders were identified from the 2018 NIS database. The average patient age was 44 years, with 51.5% being female. Of the hospitalizations, 0.19% resulted in patient death. The rate of hospital discharges was 89.04 per 100,000 population, with a mean length of stay of 5.21 days and an average hospital cost of $7,998. When compared to other countries, Germany had the highest number of hospital discharges at 1,370,698 (1,653.3/100,000), while the UK had the longest average length of stay at 35.2 inpatient days for patients with mental illnesses or disorders.

CONCLUSIONS:

These findings highlight significant differences in reported healthcare utilization for individuals with mental illnesses and disorders between the US and other OECD countries. Further analysis is needed to explore disparities in inpatient hospital outcomes based on disorder type and disease severity, as well as differences in reporting and healthcare standards. Such insights can inform future policies regarding the treatment and funding of mental health conditions.