Sanne B, Dahl A A, Tell G S
Seksjon for forebyggende medisin, Institutt for samfunnsmedisinske fag, Universitetet i Bergen, Haukeland Sykehus, 5021 Bergen.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2001 Feb 20;121(5):590-5.
Depression is a major health problem, and there is a growing awareness of the economic burden imposed by depressive disorders.
A review of the literature on the societal cost of depression is presented in a comparison of the two major studies on the topic and a discussion of the feasibility of reducing costs.
Estimating the societal cost of depression is complicated and estimates differ a great deal. The costs are, however, considerable with morbidity costs constituting the largest component. Depression is underdiagnosed and undertreated, but the majority of patients can be effectively treated; thus, in theory, cost reductions should be feasible. After the controversial Gotland study it was claimed that improving the skills of general practitioners in diagnosing and treating the disorder might reduce its societal costs considerably. However, these results were not reproduced in the randomized controlled Hampshire study.
It is uncertain to what degree it is possible to reduce the societal costs of depression. Research on the health economics of depressive disorders should be given priority.
抑郁症是一个主要的健康问题，人们越来越意识到抑郁症所带来的经济负担。
本文回顾了关于抑郁症社会成本的文献，比较了该主题的两项主要研究，并讨论了降低成本的可行性。
估算抑郁症的社会成本很复杂，且估算结果差异很大。然而，成本相当可观，发病成本构成最大组成部分。抑郁症存在诊断不足和治疗不足的情况，但大多数患者可以得到有效治疗；因此，理论上降低成本应该是可行的。在有争议的哥特兰岛研究之后，有人声称提高全科医生诊断和治疗该疾病的技能可能会大幅降低其社会成本。然而，这些结果在随机对照的汉普郡研究中并未重现。
抑郁症的社会成本能在多大程度上降低尚不确定。应优先开展关于抑郁症健康经济学的研究。
