A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

The long-term cost of childhood conduct problems: Finnish Nationwide 1981 Birth Cohort Study




AuthorsRissanen Elisa, Kuvaja-Köllner Virpi, Elonheimo Henrik, Sillanmäki Lauri, Sourander André, Kankaanpää Eila

PublisherWILEY

Publication year2022

JournalJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Journal name in sourceJOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY

Journal acronymJ CHILD PSYCHOL PSYC

Volume63

Issue6

First page 683

Last page692

Number of pages10

ISSN0021-9630

eISSN1469-7610

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13506

Web address https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13506

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/66930314


Abstract

Background

Commonly recognized childhood conduct problems often lead to costly problems in adulthood. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term cumulative cost of childhood conduct problems until the age of 30. The costs included inpatient care, nervous system medicine purchases, and criminal offences.

Methods

The study used population-based nationwide 1981 birth cohort data. Families and teachers assessed the conduct problems of the eight-year-olds based on Rutter questionnaires. We grouped 5,011 children into low-level of conduct problems (52%), intermediate-level of conduct problems (37%), and high-level of conduct problems (11%) groups, based on combined conduct symptoms scores. The analysis included the cohort data with the Care Register for Health Care, the Drug Prescription Register, and the Finnish Police Register. The cost valuation of service use applied national unit costs in 2016 prices. We used Wilcoxon rank-sum test to test the differences between groups and gender.

Results

During 1989-2011, average cumulative costs of the high-level (€44,348, p < .001) and the intermediate-level (€19,405, p < .001) of conduct problems groups were higher than the low-level of conduct problems group's (€10,547) costs. In all three groups, the boys' costs were higher than girls' costs.

Conclusions

The costs associated with conduct problems in childhood are substantial, showing a clear need for cost-effective interventions. Implementation decisions of interventions benefit from long-term cost-effectiveness modelling studies. Costing studies, like this, provide cost and cost offset information for modelling studies.


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Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 23:21