Depression-related costs to society on rise

The depression diagnosis significantly increased patients’ need for health and social services, according to a comprehensive study.

For many patients, a depression diagnosis results in a long-term or even permanent increase in service needs and costs, said the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) in a press release on Friday referring to the study.

The joint study by HUS Psychiatry, the University of Helsinki, and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a Johnson & Johnson company, on the clinical pathway for depression examined the actual use of mental health and substance misuse services, the treatment results obtained, and the costs for patients diagnosed with depression.

The data used in the study consist of register data for the Uusimaa region from healthcare and social services, The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL, Kela, and Statistics Finland.

“The study is a substantial step towards the research-based use of resources in mental health services. The research data are unique and facilitates a deeper understanding of the entire service chain than previously,” said Jesper Ekelund, Director of HUS Psychiatry.

The study revealed that costs for the use of services more than doubled after a patient was diagnosed with depression and were still almost one third higher five years later than they were before the diagnosis.

In five-year monitoring, up to 70% of patients still needed some health or social services or social benefits. Age, other illnesses, and a low socio-economic status significantly increased total costs.

The project offers an opportunity to develop the entire service chain for mental health patients in an information-based manner.

“In specialized healthcare, we are now able to better see the links between primary healthcare and social welfare services as a whole and long-term risk outcomes in the form of sick days and retirement,” said Petri Näätänen, Development Manager at HUS Psychiatry.

Based on the results, several development areas have been identified related to treatment, clinical pathways, and the organization of services.

“We will develop indicators, as well as predictive and operating models that will help us to minimize risks and promote a favorable course of disease” said Näätänen.

The study also confirms the view that cooperation with wellbeing counties in the treatment of patients with depression must be intensified so that specialized healthcare resources can be allocated to those who benefit from these services. The integration of services at the customer level should also be increased.

The clinical pathway for depression study is a part of the “Transparency and Accountability in Social and Health Care” project.

The first results were published on 21–22 October 2024 at the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) in Amsterdam.

As a basis for the project, a unique database has been created that comprises combined data from health care, social services, THL, Kela, and Statistics Finland registers over a period of seven years for approximately 630,000 patients in Uusimaa.