Media release

From: Springer Nature

Health: Assessing the cost-effectiveness of internet-delivered CBT

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is shown to have greater cost-effectiveness and similar clinical effectiveness in comparison to standard care, a study published in Nature Mental Health suggests. The findings, based on a large sample of National Health Service (NHS) users in England, also indicates that the therapy has a shorter waiting time and treatment time than traditional services.

Common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety cause emotional distress and impact social and occupational functions. People experiencing mental health disorders are more likely to use primary and secondary care, and the associated costs vary by disorder and by severity. Most studies evaluating the health economics of mental health care have focused on generalised anxiety and major depression, but there is a lack of understanding around the cost-effectiveness for different treatment methods for these conditions.

Ana Catarino and colleagues analysed data from 27,540 patients, with a primary diagnosis of depression or anxiety, to evaluate the main cost drivers for different treatment options for depression and generalised anxiety disorders. They constructed health economic models that captured a range of costs associated with different severities of the conditions. The authors found that the main cost drivers are treatment effectiveness, time from referral to end of treatment, and treatment-associated costs. Internet-delivered CBT enabled patients to be treated sooner and showed similar levels of recovery in a shorter treatment time — around half the time of traditional treatment. The authors suggest that the cost savings were higher for depression than anxiety, and for more severe presentations owing to the increased background costs associated with these conditions.

The authors conclude that their findings could inform policymaking for mental health services and access to care. However, they note that their findings are based only on data from England, and more research should be conducted to better understand the cost-effectiveness of different services.