Indirect costs of depression and other mental and behavioural disorders for Australia from 2015 to 2030

Deborah Schofield; Michelle Cunich; Rupendra Shrestha; Robert Tanton; Lennert Veerman; Simon Kelly; Megan Passey

doi:10.1192/bjo.2019.26

Indirect costs of depression and other mental and behavioural disorders for Australia from 2015 to 2030

BJPsych Open. 2019 May 3;5(3):e40. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2019.26.

Authors

Deborah Schofield¹, Michelle Cunich², Rupendra Shrestha³, Robert Tanton⁴, Lennert Veerman⁵, Simon Kelly⁴, Megan Passey⁶

Affiliations

¹ Chair and Professor of Health Economics, Director, Centre for Economic Impacts of Genomic Medicine (GENImpact), Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Australia.
² Research Fellow in Health Economics, The Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders; and Director, Sydney Health Economics, Sydney Local Health District, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia.
³ Senior Research Fellow, Health Economics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney; andCentre for Economic Impacts of Genomic Medicine (GENImpact), Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Australia.
⁴ Professor, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, University of Canberra, Australia.
⁵ Senior Health Economist, Cancer Council NSW; and Professor of Public Health, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, Australia.
⁶ Associate Professor, University Centre for Rural Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Australia.

Abstract

Background: The impact of mental disorders has been assessed in relation to longevity and quality of life; however, mental disorders also have an impact on productive life-years (PLYs).

Aims: To quantify the long-term costs of Australians aged 45-64 having lost PLYs because of mental disorders.

Method: The Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2003, 2009 formed the base population of Health&WealthMOD2030 - a microsimulation model integrating output from the Static Incomes Model, the Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model, the Treasury and the Australian Burden of Disease Study.

Results: For depression, individuals incurred a loss of AU$1062 million in income in 2015, projected to increase to AU$1539 million in 2030 (45% increase). The government is projected to incur costs comprising a 22% increase in social security payments and a 45% increase in lost taxes as a result of depression through its impact on PLYs.

Conclusions: Effectiveness of mental health programmes should be judged not only in terms of healthcare use but also quality of life and economic well-being.

Declaration of interest: None.

Keywords: Mental and behavioural disorders; microsimulation model; productive life-years (PLYs).