Objectives: To test the cost-effectiveness of a home-based depression program: Beat the Blues (BTB).
Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis as part of a previously reported randomized controlled trial that compared BTB with a wait-list control group.
Setting: Community.
Participants: English-speaking, cognitively intact (Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥24), African Americans aged 55 and older with depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire score ≥5) (N = 129).
Intervention: Participants randomly assigned to BTB received up to 10 home visits over 4 months from licensed social workers who provided care management, referral and linkage, stress reduction, depression education, and behavioral activation to help participants achieve self-identified goals.
Measurements: Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of BTB versus wait-list controls during the 4-month study period. The primary ICER was defined as cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) using the Euro Quality of Life 5D (EQ-5D) and secondarily using the Health Utilities Index-3 (HUI-3). Additional ICERs were calculated using clinical measures (cost per depression improvement, cost per depression remission). Costs included BTB intervention, depression-related healthcare visits and medications, caregiver time, and social services.
Results: BTB cost per participant per month was $146. Base case ICERs were $64,896 per QALY (EQ-5D) and $36,875 per QALY (HUI-3). Incremental cost was $2,906 per depression improvement and $3,507 per remission. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses yielded a cost/QALY range of $20,500 to $76,500.
Conclusion: Based on the range of cost-effectiveness values resulting from this study, BTB is a cost-effective treatment for managing depressive symptoms in older African Americans that compares favorably with the cost-effectiveness of previously tested approaches.
Keywords: African American; cost; cost-effectiveness; depression; health utility.
© 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.