• M van Eeden, G A P G van Mastrigt, S M A A Evers, E P M van Raak, G A M Driessen, and C M van Heugten.
• Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Research School for Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200, MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
• Bmc Health Serv Res. 2016 Dec 13; 16 (1): 688.

BackgroundPost-stroke healthcare consumption is strongly associated with a mental health diagnosis. This study aimed to identify stroke patients who utilised mental healthcare facilities, explored their mental healthcare consumption pre-stroke and post-stroke, and examined possible predictors of costs incurred by mental healthcare consumption post-stroke.MethodsThree databases were integrated, namely the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC) Medical Administration, the Stroke Registry from the Department of Neurology at MUMC, and the Psychiatric Case Registry South-Limburg. Patients from the MUMC who suffered their first-ever stroke between January 1 2000 and December 31 2004 were included and their records were analysed for mental healthcare consumption from 5 years preceding to 5 years following their stroke (1995-2009). Regression analysis was conducted to identify possible predictors of mental healthcare consumption costs.ResultsA total of 1385 patients were included and 357 (25.8%) received services from a mental healthcare facility during the 10-year reference period around their stroke. The costs of mental healthcare usage increased over time and peaked 1 year post-stroke (€7057; 22% of total mental healthcare costs). The number of hospitalisation days and mental healthcare consumption pre-stroke were significant predictors of mental healthcare costs. Explained variances of these models (costs during the 5 years post-stroke: R 2 = 15.5%, costs across a 10 year reference period: R 2 = 4.6%,) were low.ConclusionStroke patients have a significant level of mental healthcare comorbidity leading to relatively high mental healthcare costs. There is a relationship between stroke and mental healthcare consumption costs, but results concerning the underlying factors responsible for these costs are inconclusive.

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