J Ment Health Policy Econ
Social Insurance Institution, PO Box 450, 00101 Helsinki, Finland.
Published: March 2012
Background: Mood and anxiety disorders are characterized by a high and increasing prevalence, they cause a lot of costs and human suffering and there are many treatment options with differing costs. The benefits of identifying the treatments with the most favourable cost-effectiveness ratios can be substantial. However, the number of randomized trials where psychological treatments are compared with each other and where economic aspects, too, are taken into account is still relatively small.
Aim: To compare the cost-effectiveness of two short-term psychotherapies in the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders during a one-year follow-up.
Methods: In the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, 198 patients, who were 20--45 years of age and met DSM-IV criteria for anxiety or mood disorder, were randomized to short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP) or solution-focused therapy (SFT). Psychiatric symptoms were assessed at baseline and 4 times during the one-year follow-up from the start of therapy using the Beck Depression Inventory and the Symptom Check List Anxiety Scale, and 2 times using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scales and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales. Both direct costs (therapy sessions, outpatient visits, medication, inpatient care) and indirect costs (production losses due to work absenteeism, value of neglected household work, lost leisure time and unpaid help received) due to mental disorders were measured. Mean total costs were compared and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios analyzed.
Results: According to all 4 psychiatric outcome measures, symptoms of depression and anxiety were reduced statistically significantly in both therapy groups during the one-year follow-up. The relative changes were about the same size according to all four outcome measures. In both groups the reductions took place mainly in the first half of the follow-up. The reductions were somewhat greater with SPP, but the differences between the two groups were small and not statistically significant at any measurement point. The mean total direct costs were 1791 euros in the SPP group, being 346 euros (16%) lower than those of the SFT group, but this difference was not statistically significant either. Also the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio points calculated by 500 bootstrap iterations favoured SPP. The total indirect costs in the SPP group were, in contrast to direct costs, higher than those in the SFT group, but, again, the difference was not statistically significant.
Limitations: The generalization of our results may be weakened by the fact that the patients included in our study were relatively young, and the follow-up period was restricted to one year.
Implications: This study suggests that there are no notable differences in cost-effectiveness between SPP and SFT. If one were obliged to choose between these two therapies our results would support the choice of SPP. However, more research with extensive data about both costs and effectiveness, compiled over a period longer than one year, are needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn about the cost-effectiveness of the two therapies compared in this study.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|
J Int Med Res
January 2025
Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Objective: To evaluate whether there is an association between maternal mental health, purchase of psychotropic drugs, socioeconomic status and major congenital anomalies in offspring.
Methods: A register-based cohort study of 6189 Finnish primiparous women who had a singleton delivery between 2009 and 2015. Data on pregnancy and delivery outcomes, psychiatric diagnosis, prescription drug purchases and offspring congenital anomalies were obtained from Finnish national registers.
Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry
December 2022
Department of Community Medicine and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health Science Center, Kuwait University, Jabryia, Kuwait.
Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease that was declared as a pandemic and public health emergency in late 2019 and has impacted children's mental health worldwide. This study aimed to assess the general and mental health status of children during different stages of COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify the associated factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on children aging 3 to 12 years in Kuwait during three different stages of COVID19 pandemic (pre-total curfew, during total curfew, and post-total curfew).
Acta Med Philipp
December 2024
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila.
Objectives: This study aims to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the sample population in a barangay in the City of Balanga, Bataan using the MINI International and Neuropsychiatric Interview and to describe the profile of those with psychiatric disorders based on sociodemographic and health characteristics.
Methods: This is a cross sectional study from Barangay Tenejero, City of Balanga, Bataan done in 2019. Systematic random sampling was done where all zones were included.
Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry
April 2023
Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia.
Aim: To discover developmental risk trajectories for emerging mental health problems among a sample of adolescent family violence offenders to inform service delivery focused on early preventative interventions with children and their families.
Design: A retrospective case-series design employing data linkage.
Setting: An Australian regional location.
Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry
January 2024
Department of Human Movement and Education, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Zwolle, Netherlands.
Unlabelled: Specific Phobia (SP), Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) are the most prevalent anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Although anxiety has a major influence on the body, evidence-based treatments mainly focus on cognitive and behavioral aspects of anxiety. Body- and movement-oriented interventions, such as psychomotor therapy (PMT), address the physical aspects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!
© LitMetric 2025. All rights reserved.