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Preschool hyperactivity is associated with long‐term economic burden: evidence from a longitudinal health economic analysis of costs incurred across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood

Preschool hyperactivity is associated with long‐term economic burden: evidence from a longitudinal health economic analysis of costs incurred across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood
Preschool hyperactivity is associated with long‐term economic burden: evidence from a longitudinal health economic analysis of costs incurred across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood
Background:
Preschool hyperactivity is an early risk factor for adult mental health problems and criminality. Little is known about; (a) the patterns of long-term service costs associated with this behavioural marker in the general population and (b) the specific factors predicting hyperactivity-related costs. We undertook a prospective study investigating associations between preschool hyperactivity and average individual annual service costs up to late adolescent and young adulthood.
Methods: One-hundred and seventy individuals rated as hyperactive by their parents and 88 nonhyperactive controls were identified from a community sample of 4,215 three years olds. Baseline information about behaviour/emotional problems and background characteristics were collected. At follow-up (when individuals were aged between 14 and 25 years) information was obtained on service use, and associated costs since the age of three. Based on this information we calculated the average cost per annum incurred by each individual.
Results: Compared to controls, preschoolers with hyperactivity had 17.6 times higher average costs per annum across domains (apart from nonmental health costs). These were £562 for each hyperactive individual compared with £30 for controls. Average annual costs decreased as a function of age, with higher costs incurred at younger ages. The effects of hyperactivity remained significant when other baseline factors were added to the model. Effects were fully mediated by later psychiatric morbidity. When the hyperactive group were examined separately, costs were consistently predicted by male gender and, for some cost codes, by conduct problems.
Conclusions: Preventative approaches targeting early hyperactivity may be of value. Services should be targeted towards high-risk individuals with careful consideration given to the cost-to-benefit trade-off of early intervention strategies.
0021-9630
966-975
Chorozoglou, Maria
1d8dc56f-914a-402a-8155-4fb1e4380835
Smith, Elizabeth
bcd681c5-efb3-4e6a-8231-0ca5688aa7d0
Koerting, Johanna L
cbeb2b83-2671-4c4a-af7b-30e62be037f8
Thompson, Margaret
722079c8-80f8-48be-a82d-36a159d43d24
Sayal, Kapil
7dac1e7a-54d2-4d7e-862b-addfcfb8513a
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S .
7f71dc8d-d26f-4c9e-895d-231593da1c5a
Chorozoglou, Maria
1d8dc56f-914a-402a-8155-4fb1e4380835
Smith, Elizabeth
bcd681c5-efb3-4e6a-8231-0ca5688aa7d0
Koerting, Johanna L
cbeb2b83-2671-4c4a-af7b-30e62be037f8
Thompson, Margaret
722079c8-80f8-48be-a82d-36a159d43d24
Sayal, Kapil
7dac1e7a-54d2-4d7e-862b-addfcfb8513a
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S .
7f71dc8d-d26f-4c9e-895d-231593da1c5a

Chorozoglou, Maria, Smith, Elizabeth, Koerting, Johanna L, Thompson, Margaret, Sayal, Kapil and Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S . (2015) Preschool hyperactivity is associated with long‐term economic burden: evidence from a longitudinal health economic analysis of costs incurred across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56 (9), 966-975. (doi:10.1111/jcpp.12437).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background:
Preschool hyperactivity is an early risk factor for adult mental health problems and criminality. Little is known about; (a) the patterns of long-term service costs associated with this behavioural marker in the general population and (b) the specific factors predicting hyperactivity-related costs. We undertook a prospective study investigating associations between preschool hyperactivity and average individual annual service costs up to late adolescent and young adulthood.
Methods: One-hundred and seventy individuals rated as hyperactive by their parents and 88 nonhyperactive controls were identified from a community sample of 4,215 three years olds. Baseline information about behaviour/emotional problems and background characteristics were collected. At follow-up (when individuals were aged between 14 and 25 years) information was obtained on service use, and associated costs since the age of three. Based on this information we calculated the average cost per annum incurred by each individual.
Results: Compared to controls, preschoolers with hyperactivity had 17.6 times higher average costs per annum across domains (apart from nonmental health costs). These were £562 for each hyperactive individual compared with £30 for controls. Average annual costs decreased as a function of age, with higher costs incurred at younger ages. The effects of hyperactivity remained significant when other baseline factors were added to the model. Effects were fully mediated by later psychiatric morbidity. When the hyperactive group were examined separately, costs were consistently predicted by male gender and, for some cost codes, by conduct problems.
Conclusions: Preventative approaches targeting early hyperactivity may be of value. Services should be targeted towards high-risk individuals with careful consideration given to the cost-to-benefit trade-off of early intervention strategies.

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Accepted/In Press date: 12 May 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 June 2015
Published date: 1 September 2015
Organisations: Clinical Neuroscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 378695
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/378695
ISSN: 0021-9630
PURE UUID: 77ff027e-d8d3-4713-b1ce-79c4a658d0b9
ORCID for Maria Chorozoglou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5070-4653

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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2015 08:51
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:32

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Contributors

Author: Elizabeth Smith
Author: Johanna L Koerting
Author: Kapil Sayal
Author: Edmund J.S . Sonuga-Barke

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