Cost-effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depressed Youth Declining Antidepressants.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Adolescents with depression identified in primary care settings often have limited treatment options beyond antidepressant (AD) therapy. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of a brief cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program among depressed adolescents who declined or quickly stopped using ADs. METHODS:A total of 212 youth with depression were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus brief individual CBT. Clinical outcomes included depression-free days (DFDs) and estimated quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Costs were adjusted to 2008 US dollars. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) comparing CBT to TAU were calculated over 12- and 24-month follow-up periods. RESULTS:Youth randomly assigned to CBT had 26.8 more DFDs (P = .044) and 0.067 more QALYs (P = .044) on average compared with TAU over 12 months. Total costs were $4976 less (P = .025) by the end of the 24-month follow-up among youth randomly assigned to CBT. Total costs per DFD were -$51 (ICER = -$51; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -$394 to $9) at 12 months and -$115 (ICER = -$115; 95% CI: -$1090 to -$6) at 24 months. Total costs per QALY were -$20?282 (ICER = -$20?282; 95% CI: -$156?741 to $3617) at 12 months and -$45?792 (ICER = -$45?792; 95% CI: -$440?991 to -$2731) at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS:Brief primary care CBT among youth declining AD therapy is cost-effective by widely accepted standards in depression treatment. CBT becomes dominant over TAU over time, as revealed by a statistically significant cost offset at the end of the 2-year follow-up.
SUBMITTER: Dickerson JF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5810604 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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