A commentary: Measuring the health economics of depression

✍ Scribed by Simon Eckett

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 401 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/hup.470100106

✦ Synopsis

The perspective of a health economic analysis is vital and this is particularly true in the current debate on the economic analysis of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs). The perspective can be institutional, from central government, region, health commission to GP fundholder, and it can be by cost type: including drug costs alone in the analysis; other direct costs such as GPs' and counselling time; and indirect costs such as loss of earnings due to depression. Economic analysts, who focus on drug costs alone tend to favour TCAs over SSRIs. Those who cast their cost net wider tend to favour SSRIs over TCAs. Future research should concentrate on the 'invisible costs' that exist in the prescribing process; and on quality of life and health outcomes to establish treatment cost/successful outcome. This could form an integral part in the development of future cost effective guidelines for depression.

KEY WORDS-Economics, anti-depressants, costs, guidelines.