No abstract

An under-reporting of BPD was identified by the experts in all health databases and official registries. Most of the BPD costs were not related to mental health care. Amongst the direct cost categories, pharmacotherapy had the largest proportion despite the lack of specificity for BPD. This distribution of costs reinforces the idea of BPD complexity related to an inadequate and inefficient use of health resources.

The negative relation between emotional disorders and the HRQoL of individuals was confirmed and quantified for the population of Catalonia. The use of quality of life scales such as the SF or EQ-5D, combined with data on quasi-specific health conditions provides substantial information for prioritizing and planning health programs.

The mix of methods, combined with a simulation model, contributed to a reduction in data gaps and, in conditions of uncertainty, supplied more complete information on the costs of depression in Catalonia. This approach to COI should be differentiated from other COI designs to allow like-with-like comparisons. A consensus on COI typology, procedures and dissemination is needed.

Introduction: Semantic variability is a barrier to effective networking of long-term care (LTC) services. The same name may be used for services providing different activities (i.e. day centres), and services with different names may have a similar pattern of care delivery. Furthermore, services are complex constructs which depend on local characteristics, vary over time and do not allow comparisons like with like. At present there is no standard coding system of LTC in Europe. This fact impedes cross-national comparisons, hampers European statistics on service availability, access and use, and slows down the development of international care planning strategies and patient mobility.