Economic evaluations of eHealth interventions targeting mental health problems in the workplace: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND

Work-related mental health problems impose significant economic and personal burdens. eHealth interventions may offer low-cost, practical solutions, but guidance on their cost-effectiveness in workplace mental health is limited.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to systematically review economic evaluations of workplace eHealth interventions for mental health, offering insights into methodologies and cost-effectiveness outcomes.

METHODS

Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, searches were conducted in Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cochrane library, PsycInfo and EconLit databases in May 2022, selecting peer-reviewed papers that performed economic evaluations on workplace eHealth interventions for adult mental health. Quality was assessed using the Drummond checklist.

RESULTS

From 3213 references, eight met the inclusion criteria. These studies varied in economic perspective, types of economic analysis type, primary outcome measures, intervention focus (e.g. stress, alcohol, insomnia & return-to-work) and direct non-medical costs. Five eHealth interventions were found to be cost-effective and/or have a positive return on investment, with seven studies rated as high quality according to the Drummond checklist.

CONCLUSIONS

The study outcomes unveiled the potential cost-effectiveness of eHealth interventions targeting mental health issues, particularly these focusing on workplace stress. However, generalization is challenging due to variations in the methodologies across studies.