Which factors affect the costs of residential psychiatric care? Findings from the Italian PROGRES study

Objective: In the latest years, mental hospitals have gradually beenreplaced by a community-based network of facilities, including nonhospitalresidential facilities (RFs). Little information is still availableabout their costs. Our aims were to estimate the costs of Italian RFsand to evaluate which factors affect the cost of RFs and their patients.Method: A representative sample of 265 Italian RFs, hosting 2962patients, was selected for the study. RFs costs and costs of psychiatric,medical and informal care were estimated.Results: Patients in RFs cost between 7851 and 34 650 US$ per year;to this amount, it should be added from 2032 to 4702 US$ per year forthe community psychiatric services (CPS). Significant differences werefound by facility type, geographical areas, number of beds and age anddiagnosis. About 45% of the variability for RF costs and 19% for CPScosts was explained by the regression models.Conclusion: The results can be useful to inform service planning andresource allocation.