Depression-related costs to society are higher than expected

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,” says 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.

Comprehensive examination enables the development of the service chain

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,” says 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” says 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.
 

The aim of the “Transparency and Accountability in Social and Health Care” research and development project by HUS and several partners is to create instructions and tools that can easily be used to combine, analyze, and visualize national and regional register data in health and social services as a basis for development and research work. First, the actual use of mental health and substance misuse services, the treatment outcomes, and costs were examined. The aim is to create data models and processes enabling similar analyses of other patient groups. The project promotes the effectiveness-based development of the service system. 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.