[The direct costs of depressive disorders in Germany]

The purpose of this study was to estimate the direct costs of depression in Germany from the social perspective.

The data came from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD), in which a representative sample of 3555 non-institutionalised adults aged 18 years or older was interviewed in Germany. Using the most recent version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), 131 persons with a 12-month prevalence of major depression, minor depression and dysthymia were identified. These patients reported their mental health care consumption of the last 12 months retrospectively, which was valued by prices of 2002.

The average direct costs for treating depressive disorders were 686 EUR per patient and year. The total direct costs of depression in Germany was estimated at approximately 1.6 billion EUR.

Because the sample was restricted to the non-institutionalised population, calculated costs may be underestimated. The costs per inhabitant in Germany exceed those reported by studies from the United Kingdom but are lower than those reported for the USA.