Mental health disorders are associated with greater use of healthcare services and higher spending, according to a Canadian study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers found healthcare costs for patients with mental health disorders were more than 70 percent higher than costs for those without. Average healthcare costs over a three-year period were $38,250 for those with a mental health disorder and $22,280 for patients without a mental health disorder.
The study used data from nearly 1 million adults living in Alberta, Canada, who had been hospitalized or visited the physician for at least one common chronic disease between 1994 and 2012. They used healthcare cost data from 1994 to 2015. Of the cohort studied, 15.8 percent had a mental health disorder. Researchers looked specifically at depression, schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders.
More research is needed to understand how mental health affects chronic disease and what interventions could improve mental health and lower associated healthcare costs.
Read the full study here.
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