Objective: People with schizophrenia are at elevated risk of having type 2 diabetes, compared to the general\npopulation. Although there is a growing body of literature on the effectiveness of behavioural interventions to improve\nphysical activity levels and healthy eating habits, there are very few economic evaluations conducted for people\nwith severe mental illness and physical health problems. The aim of this study is to explore the cost-effectiveness\nof group-based lifestyle interventions for middle-aged adults with enduring long-term schizophrenia and co-morbid\ntype 2 diabetes.\nMethods: Deterministic decision analytical modelling techniques are applied to explore cost-effectiveness\nbased on the findings from a systematic review on this population. The intervention refers to a group-based lifestyle\nintervention, which is a combination of exercise, diet and diabetes education over 6 months. The intervention costs\nare estimated to reflect the UK local context.\nResults: From the UK National Health Service perspective, the group-based lifestyle intervention is potentially\ncost-effective, relative to usual care. It costs �£80 to achieve an additional unit of Body Mass Index (BMI) lost and the\nincremental cost-effectiveness ratio is just below �£700 to gain an extra Quality Adjusted Life Year, which lies well\nwithin the conventionally acceptable threshold values in the UK.\nConclusions: Group based life style intervention for this population is effective and can be cost-effective in\nreducing BMI and improving diabetes knowledge, at least in the short-term. More co-ordinated policies among\nrelevant sectors are required to facilitate behavioural change and better maintain an improved lifestyle. An integrated\napproach is needed to make this more sustainable in the long-term.
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