Journal Article

Cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for the treatment of major depressive disorder in primary care. A systematic review

Rutten, Frans FH, Horn, Eva K, van der Feltz-Cornelis, Christina M, Beekman, Aartjan TF, Hakkaart-van Roijen, Leona, van Steenbergen-Weijenburg, Kirsten M, van Marwijk, Harm WJ

2010

Overview

Background The effectiveness of collaborative care for patients with major depressive disorder in primary care has been established. Assessing its cost-effectiveness is important for deciding on implementation. This review therefore evaluates the cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for major depressive disorder in primary care. Methods A systematic search on economic evaluations of collaborative care was conducted in Pubmed and PsychInfo. Quality of the studies was measured with the Cochrane checklist and the CHEC-list for economic evaluations. Cost-effectiveness and costs per depression-free days were reported. Results 8 studies were found, involving 4868 patients. The quality of the cost effectiveness studies, according to the CHEC-list, could be improved. Generally, the studies did not include all relevant costs and did not perform sensitivity analysis. Only 4 out of 8 studies reported cost per QALY, 6 out of 8 reported costs per depression-free days. The highest costs per QALY reported were $49,500, the highest costs per depression-free day were $24. Conclusions Although studies did not fulfil all criteria of the CHEC-list, collaborative care is a promising intervention and it may be cost-effective. However, to conclude on the cost-effectiveness, depression research should follow economic guidelines to improve the quality of the economic evaluations.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Aged / Care and treatment / Cooperative Behavior / Cost benefit analysis / Depressive Disorder, Major - therapy / Health Administration / Health aspects / Health Care Costs / Health care teams / Health Informatics / Humans / Influence / Major depressive disorder / Medical case management / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Middle Aged / Nursing Research / Primary Health Care - economics / Primary Health Care - organization & administration / Public Health / Quality of life / Quality-Adjusted Life Years / Research Article