The Impact of Depressive Symptoms on Healthcare Costs in Late Life: Longitudinal Findings From the AgeMooDe Study
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- 作者：Jens-Oliver Bock ; Ph.D.
- 关键词：Depression ; old age ; healthcare costs ; depressive symptoms ; economic burden
- 刊名：The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
- 出版年：2017
- 出版时间：February 2017
- 年：2017
- 卷：25
- 期：2
- 页码：131-141
- 全文大小：199 K
- 卷排序：25
文摘
To examine whether depressive symptoms affect healthcare costs in old age longitudinally.DesignMulticenter prospective observational cohort study (two waves with nt1 = 1,195 and nt2 = 951) in Germany.SettingCommunity.ParticipantsParticipants aged 75 years and older recruited via general practitioners.MeasurementsDepressive symptoms were assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The health-related resource use was measured retrospectively from a societal perspective based on a questionnaire, covering outpatient services, inpatient treatment, pharmaceuticals, as well as formal and informal nursing care. Hybrid regression models were used to determine the between- and within-effect of depressive symptoms on healthcare costs, adjusting for important covariates.ResultsSix-month total cost increased from €3,090 (t1) to €3,748 (t2). The hybrid random effects models showed that individuals with more depressive symptoms had higher healthcare costs compared with individuals with less depressive symptoms (between-effect). Moreover, an intra-individual increase in depressive symptoms increased healthcare costs by €539.60 (within-effect) per symptom on GDS.ConclusionsOur findings emphasize the economic importance of depressive symptoms in old age. Appropriate interventions to treat depressive symptoms in old age might also be a promising strategy to reduce healthcare costs.