The formal care costs of dementia: a longitudinal study using Swedish register data.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the excess costs of dementia from healthcare, social care services, and prescription drugs 3 years before to 6 years after diagnosis. Further, sociodemographic cost differences are explored. METHODS: Using Swedish register data from 2013 to 2016 to compare individuals diagnosed with dementia (n = 15,339) with population controls, the excess formal care costs for people with a dementia diagnosis are obtained with longitudinal regression analysis. RESULTS: People with dementia incur higher formal care costs for all years studied compared to people without dementia. The excess costs vary from €3400 3 years before diagnosis to €49,700 6 years after diagnosis. The costs are mainly driven by institutional care, and solitary living is a strong predictor of high excess costs. CONCLUSION: The results show that the formal care costs of individuals with dementia are substantial, and that the economic burden of dementia in Sweden is larger than previously estimated.

Healthcare costs after kidney transplantation compared to dialysis based on propensity score methods and real world longitudinal register data from Sweden.

This study aimed to estimate the healthcare costs of kidney transplantation compared with dialysis using a propensity score approach to handle potential treatment selection bias. We included 693 adult wait-listed patients who started renal replacement therapy between 1998 and 2012 in Region Skåne and Stockholm County Council in Sweden. Healthcare costs were measured as annual and monthly healthcare expenditures. In order to match the data structure of the kidney transplantation group, a hypothetical kidney transplant date of persons with dialysis were generated for each dialysis patient using the one-to-one nearest-neighbour propensity score matching method. Applying propensity score matching and inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment models, the potential outcome means and average treatment effect were estimated. The estimated healthcare costs in the first year after kidney transplantation were €57,278 (95% confidence interval (CI) €54,467-60,088) and €47,775 (95% CI €44,313-51,238) for kidney transplantation and dialysis, respectively. Thus, kidney transplantation leads to higher healthcare costs in the first year by €9,502 (p = 0.066) compared to dialysis. In the following two years, kidney transplantation is cost saving [€36,342 (p < 0.001) and €44,882 (p < 0.001)]. For patients with end-stage renal disease, kidney transplantation reduces healthcare costs compared with dialysis over three years after kidney transplantation, even though the healthcare costs are somewhat higher in the first year. Relating the results of existing estimates of costs and health benefits of kidney transplantation shows that kidney transplantation is clearly cost-effective compared to dialysis in Sweden.

Pain and labor outcomes: A longitudinal study of adults with cerebral palsy in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Pain is a global health concern with substantial societal costs and limits the activity participation of individuals. The prevalence of pain is estimated to be high among individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). OBJECTIVES: To estimate the association between pain and labor outcomes for adults with CP in Sweden. METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study based on data from Swedish population-based administrative registers of 6899 individuals (53,657 person-years) with CP aged 20-64 years. Individual fixed effects regression models were used to analyze the association between pain and labor outcomes (employment and earnings from employment), as well as potential pathways through which pain might affect employment and earnings. RESULTS: Pain was associated with adverse outcomes varying across severity, corresponding to a reduction of 7-12% in employment and 2-8% in earnings if employed. Pain might affect employment and earnings through increased likelihood of both sickness leave and early retirement. CONCLUSION: Pain management could potentially be important to improve labor outcomes for adults with CP, in addition to improving the quality of life.

Macroeconomic fluctuations and individual use of psychotropic medications: evidence from Swedish administrative data.

BACKGROUND: A growing literature finds that adult mental health worsens during economic downturns. Current insights on the relationship between macroeconomic fluctuations and psychotropic medication are based on self-reported information or aggregate measures on prescriptions. This study assesses the relationship between local macroeconomic conditions and individual use of psychotropic medication as reported in administrative registers. METHODS: We use local information on unemployment linked to individual-level longitudinal data on detailed psychotropic drug consumption from administrative registers, for individuals in working age (20-65) in Sweden 2006-13. Any psychotropic medication uptake and the related number of redeemed prescriptions are the primary outcomes. Mortality is considered a secondary outcome. RESULTS: Among young men (aged 20-44) and older women (aged 45-65), we find reduced use of psychotropic medication (2-4% compared to the mean) when the local labor market conditions deteriorate. The relationship is driven by reduced use of antidepressants. The same age-gender groups experience a significantly higher risk of mortality in bad times. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that economic downturns may not only put strain on individuals' mental health but also on their access to psychopharmaceutic treatments.

Grading bias and young adult mental health.

We study exposure to grading bias and provide novel evidence of its impact on mental health. Grading bias, which we interpret as over-grading, is constructed as the residual of final upper secondary school grades having controlled for results in a standardized test, itself not subject to grading leniency. Grading bias is further isolated by considering only within-school variation in over-grading and controlling for prior grades and school production. Using Swedish individual-level register data for individuals graduating from upper secondary school in the years 2001-2004, we show that over-grading has substantial significant protective impacts on the mental health of young adults, but only among female students. That grades themselves, independent of knowledge, substantially impact the production of health highlights an important health production mechanism, and implies that any changes to the design of grading systems must consider these wider health implications.

Parental decisions to divorce and have additional children among families with children with cerebral palsy: Evidence from Swedish longitudinal and administrative data.

This study analyzes the relationship of having a child with the early-onset disability cerebral palsy (CP) and the parental decision to divorce and to have additional children. We use longitudinal matched case-control data from multiple linked Swedish National Population Registers between 2001 and 2015 and perform Cox proportional hazards regressions with interval-censoring. Although we do not find a general excess parental divorce risk on CP relative to the comparison group without CP, we find that having a child with CP increases the risk of divorce for parents with low education. We also find that having a child with CP reduces the likelihood of having additional children, especially for mothers in the older age range (maternal age at delivery >33 years) and parents with low education. The severity level of the disability, as indicated by gross motor function, is not related to the results. These findings should be understood in the Swedish context, which provides extensive welfare support (e.g., personal assistance). If future studies would find adverse results in countries with less social care and benefits, our results may indicate that it is possible to mitigate negative consequences for the family of a child with disability.

Cost Effectiveness of the Use of Prophylactic Mesh To Prevent Parastomal Hernia After Urinary Diversion with an Ileal Conduit.

Background: Prophylactic lightweight mesh in the sublay position reduced the cumulative incidence of parastomal hernia (PSH) after cystectomy with ileal conduit diversion in a randomised controlled trial. Objective: To investigate whether the use of prophylactic mesh is cost-effective in comparison to no mesh from the health care provider perspective. Design setting and participants: Data on health care resource utilisation (outpatient care and inpatient care) were obtained for 159 patients included in a randomised trial. The patients underwent surgery at Skåne University Hospital or Helsingborg County Hospital (80 with a prophylactic mesh and 79 without) and information about care was ascertained from the regional health care register. The patients underwent surgery between 2012 and 2017 and were followed until death or August 2020. Outcome measurements and statistical analyses: The primary outcome measure was the clinical incidence of PSH. Costs are reported in Euro in 2020 prices (€1 = 10.486 Swedish Krona) and presented as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) with confidence intervals (CIs) calculated using a nonparametric bootstrap procedure. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were performed to capture the uncertainty for ICERs. Results and limitations: The mean difference in total costs between the mesh and no-mesh groups was -€2047 (95% CI -€16 441 to €12 348). Seventeen patients (21.5%) in the no-mesh group developed clinical PSH versus six patients (7.5%) in the mesh group (p = 0.001). This indicates that mesh is less costly and more effective compared to no mesh from the health care provider perspective. Subgroup analyses showed that results were more advantageous for women and for patients younger than 71 yr and with less comorbidity than for their counterparts. Conclusions: The use of prophylactic mesh during ileal conduit reconstruction to prevent PSH is cost-effective from the health care provider perspective. Patient summary: In patients having their bladder surgically removed, a mesh implant can be inserted when a portion of the intestine is used to create an opening to drain urine from the body. Our results show that mesh use to prevent development of a hernia at the opening where urine exits the body is cost-effective from the perspective of health care providers.

Healthcare costs of dementia diseases before, during and after diagnosis: Longitudinal analysis of 17 years of Swedish register data.

INTRODUCTION: This study examines health-care costs attributed to dementia diseases in the 10 years prior to, during, and 6 years after diagnosis. METHODS: Using administrative register data for people diagnosed with dementia (2010-2016) in southern Sweden (n = 21,184), and a comparison group without dementia, health-care costs over 17 years were examined using longitudinal regression analysis. RESULTS: Average annual health-care costs per person were consistently higher before diagnosis in the dementia group (10 years before: Swedish krona (SEK) 2063, P < .005 and 1 year before: SEK8166, P < .005). At diagnosis, health-care costs were more than twice as high (SEK44,410, P < .005). Four to 6 years after diagnosis, there was no significant different in costs compared to comparators. DISCUSSION: Excess health-care cost arise as early as 10 years before a formal diagnosis of dementia, and while there is a spike in cost after diagnosis, health-care costs are no different 4 years after. These findings question currently accepted assumptions on costs of dementia.

The health returns of attending university for the marginally eligible student.

A key policy question is whether continued expansion of university education is beneficial for the marginally eligible student. In this paper we exploit an arbitrary university eligibility rule combined with regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal effect of university attendance on healthcare utilization amongst young adults in Sweden. We find that the eligibility rule leads to a clear jump in university attendance of between 10% and 14% points for both males and females. 2SLS estimates find that a 10% point increase in university attendance causes a roughly one percentage point increase in hospital admissions due to mental ill health for males, almost exclusively related to alcohol and narcotics. Our findings for females, however, imply the opposite, suggesting that university attendance decreases hospital admissions related to mental health. The results for males sit in contrast to results from previous studies, and suggest that the effect of university education on health for the male student at the margin of eligibility is different to that of the average student.

Inequality and heterogeneity in health-related quality of life: findings based on a large sample of cross-sectional EQ-5D-5L data from the Swedish general population.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate inequality and heterogeneity in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to provide EQ-5D-5L population reference data for Sweden. METHODS: Based on a large Swedish population-based survey, 25,867 respondents aged 30‒104 years, HRQoL is described by sex, age, education, income, economic activity, health-related behaviours, self-reported diseases and conditions. Results are presented by EQ-5D-5L dimensions, respondents rating of their overall health on the EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS), VAS index value and TTO (time trade-off) index value allowing for calculation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Ordinary Least Squares and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to study inequalities in observed EQ VAS score between socioeconomic groups and the likelihood to report problems on the dimensions, respectively, adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: In total, 896 different health states were reported; 24.1% did not report any problems. Most problems were reported with pain/discomfort. Women reported worse HRQoL than men, and health deteriorated with age. The strongest association between diseases and conditions and EQ VAS score was seen for depression and mental health problems. There was a socioeconomic gradient in HRQoL; adjusting for health-related behaviours, diseases and conditions slightly reduced the differences between educational groups and income groups, but socioeconomic inequalities largely remained. CONCLUSION: EQ-5D-5L population reference (norms) data are now available for Sweden, including socioeconomic differentials. Results may be used for comparisons with disease-specific populations and in health economic evaluations. The observed socioeconomic inequality in HRQoL should be of great importance for policy makers concerned with equity aspects.

In search of an appropriate mix of taxes and subsidies on nutrients and food: A modelling study of the effectiveness on health-related consumption and mortality.

Taxes and subsidies on foods and nutrients have the potential to promote healthier diets and thereby reduce mortality. In this study, we examine the effects of such policy instruments on Swedish public health. Specifically, we estimate the effects of food and nutrient taxes and subsidies on mortality averted and postponed in Sweden, using both demand system estimations and simulation models. We evaluate different Value Added Tax (VAT) reforms. The VAT is raised on food products that are particularly rich in saturated fat or salt and lowered on fruit and vegetables. Our models predict that an increase in the current VAT of 12% on food, to 25% VAT on products rich in saturated fat plus a 0% VAT on fruits and vegetables would result in almost 1100 deaths (95% CI: -832; -1363) averted or postponed in a year in Sweden, while the combination of a 34.4% VAT on products rich in saturated fat and a -10.4% VAT (i.e. a subsidy) on fruits and vegetables would result in almost 2100 (95% CI: -1572; -2311) deaths averted or postponed corresponding to a 4.8% reduction in diet-related annual death. Most of the deaths averted or delayed from this reform would be deaths from coronary heart disease (-1,148, 95% CI: -728; -1586), followed by stroke -641 (95% CI: -408; -887) and diet-related cancer deaths (-288, 95% CI: -11; -435). We find that health-related food taxes and subsidies improve dietary habits as well as reduce the mortality of the Swedish population. However, the effect of these reforms on different socioeconomic classes and which reforms provide the best value for money, i.e., cost-effectiveness of these reforms needs to be established first before implementation.

Parameterizing standard measures of income and health inequality using choice experiments.

When measuring inequality using conventional inequality measures, ethical assumptions about distributional preferences are often implicitly made. In this paper, we ask whether the ethical assumptions underlying the concentration index for income-related health inequality and the Gini index for income inequality are supported in a representative sample of the Swedish population using an internet-based survey. We find that the median subject has preferences regarding income-related health inequality that are in line with the ethical assumptions implied by the concentration index, but put higher weight on the poor than what is implied by the Gini index of income inequality. We find that women and individuals with a poorer health status put higher weight on the poor than men and healthier individuals. Ethically flexible inequality measures, such as the s-Gini index and the extended concentration index, imply that researchers have to choose from a toolbox of infinitely many inequality indices. The results of this paper are indicative of which indices (i.e. which parameter values) reflect the views of the population regarding how inequality should be defined.

'The nurse did not even greet me': how informed versus non-informed patients evaluate health systems responsiveness in South Africa.

INTRODUCTION: Universal Health Coverage is not only about access to health services but also about access to high-quality care, since poor experiences may deter patients from accessing care. Evidence shows that quality of care drives health outcomes, yet little is known about non-clinical dimensions of care, and patients' experience thereof relative to satisfaction with visits. This paper investigates the role of non-clinical dimensions of care in patient satisfaction. METHODS: Our study describes the interactions of informed and non-informed patients with primary healthcare workers at 39 public healthcare facilities in two metropolitan centres in two South African provinces. Our analysis included 1357 interactions using standardised patients (for informed patients) and patients' exit interviews (for non-informed patients). The data were combined for three types of visits: contraception, hypertension and tuberculosis. We describe how satisfaction with care was related to patients' experiences of non-clinical dimensions. RESULTS: We show that when real patients (RPs) reported being satisfied (vs dissatisfied) with a visit, it was associated with a 30% increase in the probability that a patient is greeted at the facilities. Likewise, when the RPs reported being satisfied (vs dissatisfied) with the visit, it was correlated with a 15% increase in the prospect that patients are pleased with healthcare workers' explanations of health conditions. CONCLUSION: Informed patients are better equipped to assess health-systems responsiveness in healthcare provision. Insights into responsiveness could guide broader efforts aimed at targeted education and empowerment of primary healthcare users to strengthen health systems and shape expectations for appropriate care and conduct.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of negative pressure wound therapy dressings after open inguinal vascular surgery - The randomised INVIPS-Trial.

AIM: While the scientific evidence in favour of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) dressings on sutured incisions in the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs) has increased, the cost-effectiveness after vascular surgery has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of NPWT compared to standard dressings for the prevention of SSIs after open inguinal vascular surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient data were retrieved from the randomised INVIPS-trial's open arm, which included patients randomised to either NPWT or standard dressings. The patients were surveyed for SSIs for 90 days postoperatively. The patients' individual cost data were included and analysed from a healthcare perspective. The patients' quality of life was measured using the Vascuqol-6 questionnaire pre- and 30 days postoperatively. Cost-effectiveness of NPWT was determined by decreased or equal total costs and a significant reduction in SSI incidence. RESULTS: The mean vascular procedure-related costs at 90 days were €16,621 for patients treated with NPWT (n = 59) and €16,285 for patients treated with standard dressings (n = 60), p = 0.85. The SSI incidence in patients treated with NPWT was 11.9% (n = 7/59) compared to 30.0% (n = 18/60) with standard dressings, p = 0.015. This corresponds to an increased mean cost of €1,853 per SSI avoided. The cost-effectiveness plane of incremental vascular procedure-related costs and difference in Vascuqol-6 score showed that 42% of estimates were in the quadrant where NPWT was dominant. CONCLUSION: NPWT is considered cost-effective over standard dressings in patients undergoing open inguinal vascular surgery due to reduced SSI incidence at no higher costs.

Quantifying the Treatment Effect of Kidney Transplantation Relative to Dialysis on Survival Time: New Results Based on Propensity Score Weighting and Longitudinal Observational Data from Sweden.

Using observational data to assess the treatment effects on outcomes of kidney transplantation relative to dialysis for patients on renal replacement therapy is challenging due to the non-random selection into treatment. This study applied the propensity score weighting approach in order to address the treatment selection bias of kidney transplantation on survival time compared with dialysis for patients on the waitlist. We included 2676 adult waitlisted patients who started renal replacement therapy in Sweden between 1 January 1995, and 31 December 2012. Weibull and logistic regression models were used for the outcome and treatment models, respectively. The potential outcome mean and the average treatment effect were estimated using an inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment approach. The estimated survival times from start of renal replacement therapy were 23.1 years (95% confidence interval (CI): 21.2-25.0) and 9.3 years (95% CI: 7.8-10.8) for kidney transplantation and dialysis, respectively. The survival advantage of kidney transplantation compared with dialysis was estimated to 13.8 years (95% CI: 11.4-16.2). There was no significant difference in the survival advantage of transplantation between men and women. Controlling for possible immortality bias reduced the survival advantage to 9.1-9.9 years. Our results suggest that kidney transplantation substantially increases survival time compared with dialysis in Sweden and that this consequence of treatment is equally distributed over sex.

Education, immigration and rising mental health inequality in Sweden.

Educational and income gradients in health are well established in the literature but there is need for a better understanding of how mental health inequalities change over time, and what drives the development. We aim to study how psychiatric diagnosis and its income-related inequality have changed over time in Sweden and to make a first attempt at disentangling the development by decomposing any changes in terms of changes in two important demographic characteristics: education and migration background. We use administrative patient data to study psychiatric inpatient diagnosis in the years 1994 and 2011. The study population comprises all individuals aged 31-64 years living in Sweden. Income-related inequalities are measured by the Concentration Index (CI). We decompose changes in the probability of receiving a diagnosis and changes in income-related inequality over time to understand the role of changing demographics. Our results show that over the study period the probability of receiving a psychiatric inpatient diagnosis increased by 12.6%, while the relative and absolute income-related inequalities in diagnosis increased by 48.2% and 66.7% respectively. In 2011, more than half of psychiatric inpatients were found among the poorest fifth of the population. The decomposition results suggest that changes in education and migration background have not played a substantial role in determining these increases. Education levels increased substantially over the study period which would be expected to protect against mental ill-health. Instead, we find that diagnoses have become more concentrated amongst the lowest educated individuals and the lowest income families, groups who appear to be increasingly disadvantaged. The growing proportion of individuals with foreign background in Sweden does, in fact, predict small increases in the probability of diagnosis, while the impact on diagnosis inequality varies depending on the definition of foreign background.

Heterogeneity in the associations between common mental disorders and labour outcomes - a population study from southern Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that Common Mental Disorders (CMD) are unequally distributed between population subgroups, but we know less about how labour outcomes following such disorders are distributed. Our aim is to investigate how the labour outcomes following a CMD diagnosis differ over sex, age, schooling and country of birth. METHODS: We use a population sample from southern Sweden of patients diagnosed with CMD during calendar years 2009-2011, and a matched general population control group, to study labour market outcomes three years following diagnosis. Logistic regression is used to study the associations between a CMD diagnosis and outcomes in employment, sick leave, and disability pension. Interaction analysis is used to study heterogeneity in these associations. RESULTS: CMD diagnosis is associated with reduced employment and increased odds of sick leave and disability pension. Following a CMD diagnosis, men and higher educated individuals have higher odds of non-employment and sick leave compared to women and the lower educated. Foreign-born individuals have higher odds of non-employment and lower odds of sick leave, compared to individuals born in Sweden. Heterogeneity appears to be present also based on age. Younger age is associated with higher odds of non-employment and disability pension and lower odds of sick leave, following a CMD diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneity in labour outcomes following a CMD diagnosis sometimes contributes to and sometimes mitigates inequalities in employment, sick leave and disability pension between population subgroups. When developing new strategies to tackle mental ill-health in the population, it may therefore be motivated to consider not only inequalities in the prevalence of mental disorders but also heterogeneity in associated adverse labour outcomes.

Experience-Based Swedish TTO and VAS Value Sets for EQ-5D-5L Health States.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although value sets for the five-level version of the generic health-related quality-of-life instrument EQ-5D are emerging, there is still no value set available in the literature based on time trade-off valuations made by individuals experiencing the valued health states. The aim of this study was to estimate experience-based value sets for the EQ-5D-5L for Sweden using time trade-off and visual analogue scale valuation methods. METHODS: In a large, cross-sectional, population-based, self-administered postal health survey, the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system, EQ visual analogue scale and a time trade-off question were included. Time trade-off and visual analogue scale valuations of the respondent's current health status were used in statistical modelling to estimate a single-index value of health for each of the 3125 health states. Ordinary least-squares and generalised linear models were estimated with the main effect within each of the five dimensions represented by 20 dummy variables reflecting the additional decrement in value for levels 2-5 when the severity increases by one level sequentially beginning from having no problem. Interaction variables representing the occurrence of severity levels in at least one of the dimensions were tested: severity level 2 or worse (N2); severity level 3 or worse (N3); severity level 4 or worse (N4); severity level 5 (N5). RESULTS: A total of 896 health states (28.7% of the 3125 possible EQ-5D-5L health states) were reported by the 25,867 respondents. Visual analogue scale (n = 23,899) and time trade-off (n = 13,381) responders reported valuations of their currently experienced health state. The preferred regression models used ordinary least-squares estimation for both time trade-off and visual analogue scale values and showed consistency in all coefficients after combining certain levels. Levels 4 and 5 for the dimensions of mobility, self-care and usual activities were combined in the time trade-off model. Including the interaction variable N5, indicating severity level 5 in at least one of the five dimensions, made it possible to distinguish between the two worst severity levels where no other dimension is at level 5 as this coefficient is applied only once. In the visual analogue scale regression model, levels 4 and 5 of the mobility dimension were combined. The interaction variables N2-N4 were included, indicating that each of these terms reflect a statistically significant decrement in visual analogue scale value if any of the dimensions is at severity level 2, 3 or 4, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Time trade-off and visual analogue scale value sets for the EQ-5D-5L are now available for Sweden. The time trade-off value set is the first such value set based on experience-based time trade-off valuation. For decision makers with a preference for experience-based valuations of health states from a representative population-based sample, the reported value sets may be considered fit for purpose to support resource allocation decision as well as evaluating population health and healthcare performance.

Inequalities in the economic consequences of depression and anxiety in Europe: a systematic scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are associated with adverse outcomes in educational achievements and economic performances. Moreover, the prevalence of these disorders is unequally distributed among different population subgroups. Our objective is to investigate whether the economic consequences of depression and anxiety differ between population subgroups of different gender, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity and age, in Europe. METHODS: A systematic scoping literature review was performed to identify studies where exposure to depression or anxiety was identified at baseline and consequences in education, sickness absence, disability pension, unemployment and income/earnings were measured at follow-up. RESULTS: Seventeen articles were included in this review and most of these were conducted in the Nordic countries. The consequences of depression and anxiety were stratified by gender in most of the articles. However, only in a few studies, the findings were stratified by SES, age and ethnicity. The negative consequences of depression in educational performance, disability pension and income are larger for men compared to women. Moreover, low SES individuals have more depression- and anxiety-related absence from work than high SES individuals. CONCLUSION: Our findings imply that the economic consequences of depression differ between population subgroups in Europe. This could have an impact on social stratification, shifting people who experience mental ill-health to lower SES groups or reinforcing an already disadvantaged position. More research is needed on unequal economic consequences of depression and anxiety in different population subgroups in Europe.

Economic evaluation of mindfulness group therapy for patients with depression, anxiety, stress and adjustment disorders compared with treatment as usual.

BACKGROUND: A randomised controlled trial found that a structured mindfulness group therapy (MGT) programme was as effective as treatment as usual (mostly cognitive-behavioural therapy) for patients with a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or stress and adjustment disorders in Sweden (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01476371). AIMS: To perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of MGT compared with treatment as usual from both a healthcare and a societal perspective for the trial duration (8 weeks). METHOD: The costs from a healthcare perspective included treatment as usual, medication and costs for providing MGT. The societal perspective included costs from the healthcare perspective plus savings from productivity gains for the trial duration. The effectiveness was measured as quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire and the UK value set. Uncertainty surrounding the incremental costs and effects were estimated using non-parametric bootstrapping with 5000 replications and presented with 95% confidence intervals and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. RESULTS: The MGT group had significantly lower healthcare and societal costs (mean differences -€115 (95% CI -193 to -36) and -€112 (95% CI -207 to -17), respectively) compared with the control group. In terms of effectiveness, there was no significant difference in QALY gain (mean difference -0.003, 95% CI -0.0076 to 0.0012) between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: MGT is a cost-saving alternative to treatment as usual over the trial duration from both a healthcare and a societal perspective for patients with a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or stress and adjustment disorders in Sweden.