The impact of depressive symptoms on healthcare costs in late life: longitudinal findings from the AgeMooDe study
Objective To examine whether depressive symptoms affect healthcare costs in old age longitudinally. Design Multicenter prospective observational cohort study (two waves with nt1 = 1,195 and nt2 = 951) in Germany. Setting Community. Participants Participants aged 75 years and older recruited via gene...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| In: |
American journal of geriatric psychiatry
Year: 2016, Volume: 25, Issue: 2, Pages: 131-141 |
| ISSN: | 1545-7214 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jagp.2016.10.011 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2016.10.011 Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1064748116302779 
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| Author Notes: | Jens-Oliver Bock, André Hajek, Siegfried Weyerer, Jochen Werle, Michael Wagner, Wolfgang Maier, Anne Stark, Hanna Kaduszkiewicz, Birgitt Wiese, Lilia Moor, Janine Stein, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller, Hans-Helmut König |
| Summary: | Objective To examine whether depressive symptoms affect healthcare costs in old age longitudinally. Design Multicenter prospective observational cohort study (two waves with nt1 = 1,195 and nt2 = 951) in Germany. Setting Community. Participants Participants aged 75 years and older recruited via general practitioners.Measurements Depressive 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. Results Six-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. Conclusions Our 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. |
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| Item Description: | Available online 2 November 2016 Gesehen am 21.09.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1545-7214 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jagp.2016.10.011 |