Co-Occurring Depression and Associated Healthcare Utilization and Expenditure in Individuals with Respiratory Condition: A Population-Based Study.

Prashant Sakharkar,Thanh Mai

doi:10.3390/pharmacy9040157

Prashant Sakharkar, Thanh Mai

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9040157

Copy DOI

Abstract

The existing literature is limited on the prevalence of depression among people with respiratory conditions and person-level factors that are associated with increased healthcare utilization and expenditures. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence, pattern of healthcare use, and expenditures in noninstitutionalized individuals having co-occurring depression with respiratory conditions. The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2011 to 2017 was used in this study. Our sample included individuals having respiratory conditions (asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis) with and without depression. Healthcare use and expenditure data were analyzed using a chi-square test, t-tests, and multiple linear regression analyses. There were 8848 individuals in the study. The prevalence of comorbid depression was 20%. Individuals with co-occurring depression with respiratory conditions differed significantly from individuals without co-occurring depression for age ≥ 45 years, white, and with ≤2 chronic disease conditions. Depressed individuals with respiratory conditions had higher healthcare utilization and expenditures. The presence of co-occurring depression with respiratory conditions increases the treatment complexity, healthcare utilization, and expenditure. Better treatment and management of these patients may reduce healthcare use and expenditures in the future.

Highlights

Published: 25 September 2021Respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with high costs and economic burdens among the US population.This cost was estimated with annualized total medical expenditures being USD 7 billion for asthma and USD 5 billion for COPD in 2017 [1,2,3,4]
The prevalence of depression among individuals with respiratory conditions in our sample was 20%, suggesting one in five individuals with respiratory conditions suffered from depression
COPD with concomitant depression had an estimated prevalence ranging from 10% to 57%, which can be attributed to the different measurement tools and different degrees of illness severity across the studies [18]

Summary

Introduction

Respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with high costs and economic burdens among the US population. This cost was estimated with annualized total medical expenditures being USD 7 billion for asthma and USD 5 billion for COPD in 2017 [1,2,3,4]. The prevalence of asthma is increasing, with approximately 8% (25.7 million people) in the US having been diagnosed with or have had asthma [4] Both asthma and COPD have shown higher rates of comorbidity mostly associated with mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression [8]. The prevalence of depression in COPD appears to be more frequent, compared to other chronic disabling diseases

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion