Cost-benefit analysis of newer versus older antidepressants--pharmacoeconomic studies comparing SSRIs/SNRIs with tricyclic antidepressants.

Changes in the social and health services over the last years have forced doctors to concern themselves with cost benefit calculations and budget forecasting. Cost considerations are a (co-) determinant in the choice of antidepressants as well as neuroleptics and/or antipsychotics. In recent years, pharmacoeconomic studies have been performed to answer the question as to what extent treatment with new antidepressants, in particular SSRIs, is actually less expensive than treatment with (generic) tricyclic antidepressants due to better safety profiles and higher compliance in spite of the considerably higher retail price. Following descriptions of the methodological principles, the currently available studies are presented and discussed critically in this report. It can be stated that the economic value of different antidepressants can not be decided definitively at the present time. The available data do not allow the conclusion that SSRIs should be preferred over tricyclic antidepressants with the argument that the treatment as a whole is more cost effective in spite of the higher costs.