Cost-effectiveness of cognitive self-therapy in patients with depression and anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVE

Self-therapy interventions could potentially reduce healthcare expenses and the need for care in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of cognitive self-therapy (CST) in patients with these disorders.

METHOD

A total of 151 patients were randomly assigned to CST or treatment as usual (TAU), and followed during 18 months. The Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) was the primary outcome measure of the study. The reference year was 2003 (US$1.00 = euro 0.92).

RESULTS

Mean costs of patients in the CST group (US$4364) were lower than that of the patients who received TAU (US$5241). The results of the SCL-90 were slightly in favour of CST. Valuing an additional unit of health outcome at US$108 will lead to an 83% probability that CST is cost-effective.

CONCLUSION

Cognitive self-therapy appears to be cost-effective. Wider implementation of CST may relieve the burden of many patients with emotional disorders whose treatment needs cannot be met in current healthcare systems.