Reports From the Field
Depression and its treatment costs employers big bucks
Employers are paying more for treatment of depression than for hypertension or several other common conditions, according to a recent study. Researchers examined data from the files of 15,153 employees of a major U.S. corporation who filed health claims in 1995. They compared the mental health costs, medical costs, sick days, and total health and disability costs associated with depression and four other conditions: heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and back problems. Regression models were used to control for demographic differences and job characteristics.
Findings include:
- Employees treated for depression incurred annual per capita health and disability costs of $5,415, significantly more than the cost for hypertension and comparable to the cost for the three other medical conditions studied.
- Employees with depressive illness plus any one of the other studied conditions cost 1.7 times more than those with one of the studied medical conditions alone.
- Depressive illness was associated with a mean of 9.86 annual sick days, significantly more than any of the other conditions.
- Depressed employees under age 40 took 3.5 more annual sick days than those 40 or older.
Researchers conclude that the cost of depression to employers, particularly in lost workdays, is equal to or greater than the cost of many other common medical illnesses. In addition, the strong association between depressive illness and sick days in younger employees suggests that the impact of depression may increase as these workers age, they add.
[See: Druss BG, Rosenheck RA, Sledge WH. Health and disability costs of depressive illness in a major U.S. corporation. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:1,274-1,278.]
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