Abstract
Objective
Currently, there is a paucity of up-to-date estimates of the economic burden caused by mental disorders. Such information could provide vital insight into one of the most serious and costly—yet to some extent preventable—health challenges facing the world today.
Method
Data from a national psychiatric-epidemiological cohort study (NEMESIS-2, N = 6506) were used to provide reliable, relevant, and up-to-date cost estimates (in 2019 Euro) regarding healthcare costs, productivity losses, and patient and family costs associated with DSM-IV mental disorders both at individual level, but also in the general population and in the workforce of the Netherlands (per 1 million population).
Results
In the general population, the costs of mood disorders, specifically depression, are substantial and rank above those from the anxiety disorders, whilst costs of anxiety disorders are more substantial than those stemming from substance use disorders, even when the per-person costs of drug abuse appear highest of all. In the workforce, specific and social phobias are leading causes of excess costs. The workforce has lower healthcare costs but higher productivity costs than general population.
Discussion
The findings suggest that (preventive) healthcare interventions targeting the workforce are likely to become cost-effective and underscore the importance for employers to create healthy work environments. Overall, the results highlight the need to strengthen the role of mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders in the social domain before people require treatment to reduce the staggering and costly burden caused by mental disorders to individuals and society.
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Data availability
The data on which this manuscript is based are not publicly available. However, data from NEMESIS-2 are available upon request. The Dutch ministry of health financed the data and the agreement is that these data can be used freely under certain restrictions and always under supervision of the Principal Investigator (PI) of the study. Thus, some access restrictions do apply to the data.
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Wijnen, B.F.M., Ten Have, M., de Graaf, R. et al. The economic burden of mental disorders: results from the Netherlands mental health survey and incidence study-2. Eur J Health Econ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-023-01634-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-023-01634-2