Considerations in the treatment of anxiety disorders: a pharmacoeconomic review

Anxiety disorders are a group of common mental disorders that impose a significant economic burden on the healthcare system and society. For this review of published literature on the pharmacoeconomics of treating anxiety disorders, various studies of the cost, resource use and the economic outcomes of pharmacological treatment were examined. Numerous studies have been published that document how the excessive costs associated with anxiety disorders, especially panic disorder, result from a combination of factors including under-recognition and misdiagnosis of the problem by primary healthcare providers, high medical resource utilisation including unnecessary or inappropriate diagnostic tests and high levels of medical help-seeking behaviour by patients. Little information has been available on the economic effects of pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders but recent studies have shown that selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are associated with a shift in medical resource utilisation (lower rates of emergency department and laboratory visits) which can potentially result in decreased healthcare expenditures. Facilitating an increased awareness among primary healthcare providers of the anxiety disorders and utilising appropriate diagnostic and treatment strategies can benefit patients while providing more efficient and effective healthcare spending leading to an overall reduction in the burden of disease.