Direct Costs of Social Phobia in Adolescents and Cost-Effectiveness of Psychotherapy

Objectives Social anxiety disorder is one of the most prevalent mental disorders and often manifests in youth or adolescence. Our aim was to determine direct costs of adolescents with social anxiety disorder and the cost-effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy (PDT) compared to waiting list (WL). Methods Baseline data (n=103) of a randomized controlled trial was used to determine direct costs. Cost-effectiveness of CBT and PDT compared to WL was analyzed using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) based on the EQ-5D index as measure of health effects. Results Total six-month direct costs were 809Euro (SE 508Euro). Especially costs of outpatient physician treatment (325Euro; SE 301Euro) and psychiatric hospital stays (377Euro; SE 258Euro) were high. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of CBT compared to WL was 18,824Euro/QALY, with a probability of 63% for the ICER being below 50,000Euro/QALY. PDT did not prove to be cost-effective. Conclusions Direct costs were mainly caused by psychiatric hospital stays and outpatient physician treatments. CBT is likely to be cost-effective compared to WL, whereas PDT is unlikely to be cost-effective.     «

Objectives Social anxiety disorder is one of the most prevalent mental disorders and often manifests in youth or adolescence. Our aim was to determine direct costs of adolescents with social anxiety disorder and the cost-effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy (PDT) compared to waiting list (WL). Methods Baseline data (n=103) of a randomized controlled trial was used to determine direct costs. Cost-effectiveness of CBT and PDT compared to WL was analyzed...     »