[Costs of Depression in Germany - Systematic Review]

Depression is a common mental disorder associated with a high economic burden. Aim of this study was to review cost-of-illness studies of depression in Germany.

We conducted a systematic literature search of bottom-up cost-of-illness-studies of depression in adults in Germany. Included studies were classified into three groups depending on their costing approach (total health care cost studies, disease-specific health care cost studies, excess cost studies).

Depending on the type of cost calculation the average total costs per patient and year varied between 400-3,300 € for disease-specific costs, 3,000 € for excess costs and 3,000-5,000 € for total health care costs. There were no results for indirect costs in most studies.

Depression in Germany is associated with high costs, but especially indirect costs are missing in the current literature and should be examined more intensively.