NEW YORK– Direct healthcare costs are 149% higher for people with unrecognized depression compared to people without depression symptoms. The prevalence of mild to severe depression symptoms in the general population increases from 23% to 40% when accounting for people whose clinical assessments show signs of depression, but report “not experiencing depression” and “never being diagnosed with depression.” This results in a $6,269 increase in incremental healthcare costs when compared to people with minimal to no depression, according to an analysis of data from the National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) that was published today by Happify Health, the Intelligent Healing Company™.
“Roughly 45% of Americans reported having a chronic health problem, which costs the United States over $3.7 trillion in direct and indirect healthcare spending each year,” according to Murray Zucker, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Happify Health. “Our analysis demonstrates the potential to lower healthcare costs through early detection and treatment of depression—especially among people with comorbid chronic illnesses.”
The study, authored by Happify Health’s Director of Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR), Anita Mohandas, MSc, MHP, was presented at ISPOR Europe 2021 in November 2021 and by Dr. Zucker at the Future of Mental Healthcare Conference in December of 2021.
Happify Health’s HEOR team used the NHWS data to model the incremental burden of depression symptoms at the individual and population level. The average cost per individual was weighted by the severity of depression symptoms, and across groups who self-reported having depression, and who had unrecognized depression.
